Breathless
by Crystal Delphina
Summary: Time seems infinite until your life is given a deadline. As minutes tick by, Heero and Relena are closer to death as precious oxygen becomes scarce. If you only have an hour until everything ends, what are you going to do? Take a gamble? 1xR
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

"_They're coming around for another attack sir," the Preventer officer exclaimed, before realizing that their end was inevitable._

**Breathless: Chapter 1**

By Crystal Delphina

Created: October 16, 2003

Revised: June 21, 2009 & June 14, 2010

**Wednesday March 29, A.C. 200 Wednesday 14:01~**

"So what's this conference for exactly?" Hilde asked. Her skills at dodging the numerous agents and staff that filled the third floor main hallway of the Preventer base, while still managing to maintain a conversation, were quite astounding. While people quickly moved aside for her companion, she was not nearly as respected to receive the same treatment, despite her standing as a senior officer.

"An emergency meeting was called on that new colony in the L4 cluster. Apparently, the populace is dwindling and government officials are blaming it on the failing industrial economy. I'm expected to go help mediate the situation." Relena stepped onto an already waiting elevator and pressed the button for level six as Hilde moved to stand beside her. "Because I'm only supposed to help lay the foundation for ongoing talks, I shouldn't be there for more than a few days."

During lunch breaks, new recruits and lower level agents would gossip and speculate over who was lucky enough to visit level six. They would contemplate when, or more importantly _if_, they would ever be granted the opportunity themselves. Venturing up to level six, much less working on the floor, meant that you had passed the strict security clearances necessary to operate directly under the top Preventer agents, the liaison officials of the current government, the chief commanding officer and director Lady Une, and the Vice Foreign Minister herself. Most Preventer agents and staff were relegated to the third floor, which operated as the central nervous system for Preventer Headquarters.

"Only a few days? Well that's not too bad I guess. Just don't forget that your birthday is next week. You did take a couple days off around then right?" Hilde questioned as they stepped off the lift and started down the hallway towards Relena's office. As the sheepish smile spread across Relena's features, Hilde halted her stride to stare in disbelief.

"You mean you _didn't_ take any time off?" Hilde stared blankly at her friend with a deadpanned expression. "Relena, it's your birthday! For fuck's sake!"

Relena quickly clamped her hand over Hilde's mouth to stop her friend's rant and inappropriate vernacular in the public setting. She also pointedly ignored the peculiar looks she received from a few agents passing by the pair. Instead, Relena chose to glare at her friend, which didn't dissuade Hilde from glaring right back at the blonde. Wishing to have her mouth back from the steel-trap of Relena's hold, the officer stopped long enough in her attempts to berate the politician to give her a chance to explain herself.

"I took the day off, so calm down. I have an important delegation meeting two days after and I need the day before to prepare." Deciding that was a sufficient explanation, Relena removed her hand to allow Hilde the full function of breathing and continued striding down the hall. The former Oz soldier glared a moment longer at the Vice Foreign Minister's retreating back until she quickly jogged to catch up. She knew better than to comment further on the situation. Doing so would only result in an icy dismissal of any and all of Hilde's ideas and suggestions for at least the next two weeks, which just wasn't worth it – for the time being at least.

"I'll see you later Relena. There's a meeting with Une soon and I'm going to be late." Hilde gave a small wave before turning down an adjacent hallway. "Bye," was the soft reply and farewell Relena murmured as they parted ways. Brushing aside the minor dispute with Hilde from her thoughts, she entered the waiting area for her suite and gave her assistant a nod before marching into her office.

The afternoon sun danced off the pale yellow walls and reflected off framed pictures with other diplomats and artwork given to her as gifts, which lined the walls of her spacious office. Laying the few files and papers she was carrying down on her polished mahogany desk, she made her way around the large piece of furniture to peer out of the floor-to-ceiling windows. They provided her with a panoramic view of the city that the Preventer base overlooked.

"Too bad Hilde had a meeting she had to get back for, otherwise we could have gone out into town for lunch," Relena lamented to herself while turning back around and seating herself in the large leather chair at her desk. Looking at the workspace, she had to resist the temptation to flee the office and go enjoy the rare pleasant early spring day; the urge to bolt was particularly strong today. Instead, she removed her jacket and pulled her hair back. After first assessing the state of her desk, which was dire considering that it was covered in papers, and then triaging what business items were pressing, she finally settled down to start reviewing one of the latest colony trade agreements.

Lost in her work, she jumped when the intercom interrupted her productive silence.

"Ms. Relena." The voice filled the room, distracting the lone occupant from working on the third file she had almost finished. Slightly flustered, she pushed down the small plastic button on her desk that would connect her to her assistant.

"Yes Patrick?"

"Ms. Relena, Commander Une has asked you to report to the meeting they're having in SW 632."

Relena had risen from her chair the moment she had heard the name 'Une', already having a good idea regarding the rest of the message. Poor Patrick literally jumped in his seat when his employer, instead of responding through the intercom as he expected, strode directly past his desk instead.

"Tell Une I'm on my way," she said to the startled Patrick as she proceeded to march out of the office suite.

"Uh... right Ms. Relena," he managed to utter before she disappeared down the hallway.

**14:12~**

"We have a problem," Une announced as she walked around the table, where her top three Preventer teams were seated. The meeting had started in the small conference room upon Hilde's arrival, surprisingly with no one commenting on her tardiness.

"And what would that problem be exactly?" Duo asked as Hilde took her seat next to him. She mouthed a silent thanks when he slid her a copy of the document that Une had distributed at the beginning of the meeting but had not yet explained.

"We have reason to believe that threats have been made against Minister Darlian – _again_ – and other representatives scheduled to visit the L4 colony."

Duo rolled his eyes. " So what's new?" the former gundam pilot asked as he leaned back in his chair, looking as if he was ready to kick his heels up on the table and begin dealing out a good hand of poker. Une fixed the agent with an icy stare, one that immediately caused him to frown at the non-verbal admonishment.

"Maxwell, I would hope that I would not be required to remind _you_, a senior agent, that _all_ threats to officials, especially those against Minister Darlian, are taken seriously." Her seemingly cool and calm reply dripped with venom, adding a particularly painful sting to the obvious reproach on his flippant demeanor. When Duo looked away and wisely decided not to make any further comments, Une returned to addressing the entire table.

"Unfortunately, we cannot verify for certain that this information is reliable or if the supposed group will make serious attempts. The reason why I find cause for concern in _this_ particular instance…" She eyed Duo pointedly, who responded by defensively folding his arms across his chest. Pleased with his continued silence, she resumed the debrief. "…is due to the fact that we have had significant intel indicating that colony residents have been receiving specialized combat training."

Hilde regarded her superior with suspicion. "Why hasn't this matter been dealt with already? And why are we only hearing about this now?" It was rare for such obviously large security threats to go unchecked, rarer for those gathered in the room not to be aware of them, and utterly ridiculous that they wouldn't be informed about it until the day before a scheduled delegation meeting.

Une heaved a sigh, and wove her hand in the air, gesturing towards some invisible entity. "You know how this new government works. ESUN officials didn't want to stir up trouble without definitive and undeniable evidence of an actual rebellion. We can't shut it down or make a move until they move first. They're untouchable for the time being because they haven't done anything illegal yet. At least not that we know of..."

"So what you're implying then is that this would be a perfect chance for them to strike," Sally casually commented as she leaned forward to place her elbows on the table. She briefly surveyed the document in front of her that outlined sporadic and seemingly insignificant reports made on the colony and its operations. The worst infraction on the list was a poorly calibrated colony stabilizer that had almost resulted in the colony crossing gravitational paths with one of its neighbors. However, there was still a substantial number of the so-called "minor" infractions.

"Yes, but they don't have enough power or large enough numbers to cause any major damage. Subsequently, Preventers hasn't investigated into the matter further," she paused. "Mostly because of recent budget issues," she finished with a sigh. Une winced when she began to hear the customary grumbling of her subordinates. Not even the top agents had managed to survive budget and department cuts unscathed. The C.O. raised a hand to pinch the bridge of her nose in agitation when the momentary bitch fest began to target in on the hot topic of inadequate emergency support for in-field and undercover operatives.

"Look," she snapped, attempting to bring focus back to the meeting. "There's no use in discussing what hasn't been done up until now. Our immediate concern is adequate protection for this colony meeting. We just need another Preventer with Relena, preferably one of you." Une wrapped up her briefing by leaning forward onto the table with her arms outstretched and looking around the table expectantly, making her point clear. She let her gaze linger longer on one person in particular before resuming her perusal of the room's occupants. However, her lingering had not gone unnoticed.

"So, any volunteers?" Sadly, her expectations weren't high and she didn't foresee any of them immediately raising their hands to take the assignment. All of them would willingly do anything for Relena, including putting their life on the line without question or hesitation. However these types of threats had become standard, and typically the greatest harm the minister had suffered was a runny nose and severe orbital time jet lag. Standard mundane body guarding was not something that these agents had a tendency to jump at, and frankly, felt that it was below their pay grade.

When no one made a motion to take the new mission, eyes slowly began to shift towards one section of the table expectantly. By this point in their careers, the three teams were close enough that they made no attempts at subtlety. The target – as expected – caved.

"Fine, I'll do it. Is there anything else that needs to be discussed?" Heero gave no indication in his answer as to whether he was okay with the outcome or not. Une did not feel the need to inquire one way or the other.

"No, we just need to notify Relena on the present situation." With a decision reached, Une switched on the intercom behind her.

"Ms. Darlian's office. This is her assistant, Mr. Loretz."

"Loretz, this is Une. Ask Ms. Darlian to join us in SW 632 please."

"Yes, of course, Ma'am."

"Thank you." She shut down the link and surveyed the room. Her agents waited patiently for their orders.

If she dealt with her current subordinates in a similar fashion as the troops she had commanded during her time with Oz, she might have subjected her agents to training outside tomorrow during the impending freak spring snow storm – without thermal adjustment suits. However, despite how aggravating their lack of willingness was for a mandatory job, she wasn't the woman she had been in the past – lucky for them. She dismissed her thoughts of punishment and took her seat at the head of the small conference table. "Then it's settled: Yuy, you'll stay. The rest of you are dismissed until further notice. Don't forget mission updates are due by 1700. And I'm expecting to hear about headway on that L1 fire that's been smoldering for too long now. Got it?"

Scattered acknowledgments of "Ma'am" were heard as the Preventers saluted, collected their documents, and took their leave. Once in the hallway, the small group dispersed to resume their previous tasks. Sally and Wufei returned to their shared office, quietly discussing the difficulties they foresaw with a new mission involving Neo-Brazil and civil disputes on water. Meanwhile, Trowa, leaving his partner behind, headed towards his office to start designing the new security system upgrades, hoping that Heero would have time to provide input before he left on his impromptu trip. Finally, Duo and Hilde headed towards the hangers to complete repairs on their shuttle.

They entered an empty nearby elevator and headed for the basement level. "So why were you late?" Duo questioned as he leaned against the metal paneling as they quickly descended.

"I wasn't that late," the woman retorted, taking a stance against the elevator wall similar to her partner's. "I was having lunch with Relena. The exec dining hall was more crowded than usual."

"Well did you guys have a good lunch? If I had known where you were, I would have eaten with the guys instead of waiting in the hanger for you."

Hilde chose to ignore the pout that the former gundam pilot was giving and left him to his sulking. Deciding to change the conversation before he found an excuse to begin whining about his lonely lunch break, Hilde gave a shrug. "I found out something though." The young man looked up and cocked his head perplexed, prompting the skilled female mechanic to share her information. "Relena didn't take off her birthday next week."

Duo's face fell in disappointment, expecting juicier gossip than an already infamous and well known work-a-holic choosing to forego birthday celebrations. "So?" he asked nonchalantly as they exited the elevator and made their way over to an awaiting tram that would take them out to the hangers on the other side of the base's compound.

"So...Relena needs more of a break than that and next week is the perfect time. You can't tell me that you haven't noticed those horrible bags under her eyes she's been getting. Much less the fact that she keeps yawning every few minutes. She loves her job and everything, but being Vice Foreign Minister for so long and at such a young age is weakening her. Hell, all of us are really young. We should all be in college right now like normal young adults," she complained in exasperation, emphasizing the last part by throwing her hands up and rolling her eyes. Hilde began walking off the tram as the doors opened to a long hallway. Duo was only a step behind, now definitely intrigued. Before she could get too far ahead, he grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her to face him.

"Are you saying you'd rather quit all this and go to school instead?" he asked her in all seriousness as his cobalt blue gaze bore into hers, concern etched into every aspect of his expression. Hilde promptly looked away, refusing to make eye contact. She recognized the weight and importance that her answer, and careful deliberation in her response was necessary.

"No..." She momentarily hesitated before going on. "It's just that realistically, we're so young. But we were all thrust into military life so quickly that we can't quite let go of it. Debating infiltration strategies of secure bunkers is a normal casual conversation topic for us. Cleaning and reassembling a Lunar 9MM blindfolded is something so automatic that we will take bets on who can do it fastest. The Preventers have allowed us to hold onto that part of the past that we're familiar with. However, I remember when I was ten that I wanted to go to school and work on designing mobile suits that were better equipped to handle the different environmental factors on Mars.

"I don't want to give all this up..." Her hand swept around the room, indicating the hanger and base at large. "However, I sometimes question if I want to continue on this path without obtaining a greater education." When Hilde finally looked at her partner, the fire in her eyes momentarily ruffled him. However, he couldn't dismiss how her gaze seemed to be locked on something far away, something that wasn't contained in the walls of the hanger they currently stood in. Hilde shook off Duo's hold on her and continued to the door of the hanger bay.

He stood frozen and unsure, quickly trying to process the barrage of new information and new desires his closest companion had just expressed. He purposefully avoided thinking about the possibility that he didn't know the girl as well as he thought he did; it was too unsettling of a consideration. He'd save reflections on their relationship and his ability to read people for the next time Quatre was in town and the other man could join him at the bar and split a pitcher. Duo operated under the philosophy that personal insight was easier when intoxicated and when the most empathic person in the space quadrant was your bar buddy.

However right now, he needed to respond in some fashion to what Hilde had just divulged; something effective and at least somewhat meaningful and validating of her concerns.

"I know what you're talking about," he called after her, and he got the results he wanted when she paused. "And you're right about Relena. We can try, _together_, to get her to take off at least one day next week after she gets back from her meeting."

Happy that he would help in her goal of trying to get the Vice Foreign Minister to celebrate the day of her birth, Hilde gave a small smile of relief for other reasons. Duo wasn't going to pursue the delicate topic she had just dug up, at least for the time being, and she was relieved there wouldn't be a confrontation on the matter. She wasn't sure if she was ready to delve into the implications of her sentiments yet either.

She pulled a wrench out of an interior pocket of her jacket and tossed it at him. He effortlessly reached up and caught the metal tool in midair.

"Let's get going Duo!"

The shorter girl sauntered away towards their shuttle after flashing him a dazzling smile. Duo marveled at how that single gesture swept away the tension that had been building. Recovering from his stupor, he jogged after his partner and promptly began whining about how lonely his lunch break had been.

**14:47 ~**

Relena's pace quickened as she made her way down the final hall that lead to the conference room. Her knuckles hit the gray polished metal surface in a sharp knock, waiting for permission to enter. She had made the mistake only once of walking in on a confidential Preventers meeting, and the backlash she had received from all agents present, including Une herself, had made it clear that her presence was not always welcome without invitation.

"Come in."

The metal door slide aside with the press of a button and Relena stepped inside. As the door closed behind her with a quiet hiss, she noted that the only occupants of the room were Commander Une and Agent Yuy. Professional as always, Relena was quick to get down to business.

"I heard you requested my presence. What's the matter?"

"Please sit." Une indicated a chair across from Heero near the head of the table where she herself was situated. Relena gracefully took the appointed seat and folded her hands on the tabletop, awaiting whatever news that had been important enough to drag her away from her desk and work.

"We have reports indicating a potential threat against your welfare. Agent Yuy will be accompanying you to the colony meeting as an additional safety precaution," Une said formally, informing the young woman of the addition to her entourage. Relena sat unfazed, glancing down at her watch while she waited for further information. The older woman couldn't help the small frown that formed. Shouldn't one be slightly more concerned when there's a threat to their life? Une decided it was best to continue instead of pondering the subject for too long. "Yuy is not to leave your side while you are there. In addition, at night he is to be positioned in a nearby room making sure there are guards at your door. Is that clear?"

The two nodded their heads in silent agreement without argument. Their willingness to accept the circumstances and orders, without so much as a question of concern or probe for more information, was unsettling.

Une quirked an eyebrow but chose not to say anything regarding their impassive manner. "You are free to go then. I'll be sending you orders and information later tonight Yuy." She looked down at the papers in front of her, examining them again as she listened to their departure. She heard the small screeching sound that emitted from the floor as the metal legs of the chairs moved upon it, the footsteps of two of her coworkers leaving, and then the final hiss of the door as it opened and closed after them. She pursed her lips and stood from the table and placed her hands on its cluttered surface, her head downcast.

She prayed for the first time that her intuition was wrong and that the threats were just as meaningless as all of the others had been over the past few years.

~:~:~:~:~

"So how severe are these batch of threats?" Relena asked while they walked down the hall together, her tone casual and unconcerned. The senior agent lifted his shoulders slightly in a shrug.

"I don't know. She wouldn't say," he replied evenly while keeping his eyes trained at the end of the hallway.

"Well then I really don't need the protection."

Raising a lone eyebrow, he spared a glance to the side to look at her. "What do you mean?" he cautiously inquired, trying to ascertain her reasoning for such a statement.

"Threats are nothing new Heero and you know that. Thankfully, they've dropped dramatically since the ESUN was first formed. Despite that, if I had to be guarded at all times by you, or any of the others, none of us would ever be able to get work done. You'd be doing crossword puzzles out of sheer boredom and I'd be constantly distracted by your habit of chewing on all pens and pencils in a three foot radius." She smiled momentarily before gently elbowing him in the side. "And that'd just be a waste of tax payer money."

"Hn," he muttered noncommittally while attempting to cover up a smile of his own and blatantly ignoring her teasing at his expense. Regardless, his demeanor sobered and his fleeting smile vanished as he chastised the politician. "It doesn't mean you can take them all lightly either. I'll pick you up tomorrow at 07:00." Without further adieu, he turned down the hallway that led to his office, leaving his newly assigned charge to finish the walk to her office on her own.

Upon entering the small office, Trowa immediately waved Heero over to review the new security plans.

**21:52 ~**

Fatigued and sore from being chained to an office chair all day (that was purposefully created to produce bad posture), she crawled under the covers of her spacious bed, more then ready to succumb to sleep and her dreams. After finishing out the day signing and reviewing trade documents and terraformation proposals, she had come home to pack for her trip. Her suitcase sat open in the corner with clothes haphazardly thrown into it. Folding her designer suits and casual slacks and blouses required far too much energy, much less zipping the bulging monstrosity.

Much to her chagrin, Hilde had called after dinner to inform Relena that they would be seeing each other on Saturday. Birthday plans would be one of the main topics of conversation.

"I knew she wouldn't just let it go," Relena mumbled to herself as she stared up at the ceiling above her. After some thought, she gave a small smirk. "Though of course, what else are friends for?"

"They're just worried about you, you know," a low voice murmured from the corner of her darkened room. While others might be alarmed at the sudden appearance of another uninvited occupant in the room, the diplomat remained unperturbed and gave a subtle smile. Pushing herself up to a sitting position, she hugged her knees and stared at the corner of her room, waiting patiently for her visitor to reveal himself. The only illumination in the room came from a few pale streams of moonlight that shone through her curtains and lit up the hardwood flooring. This of course left the rest of the young woman's room almost in complete darkness.

Heero hesitated a second before finally strolling out of the dark corner. He stopped in front of the window so that she could fully see him.

"You know I hate it when you do that. Do you always just break into young ladies' rooms at night Heero?" Relena gave a lopsided smile as she saw him come out from hiding. Always a man of few words, he just gave a small grunt in reply as he stepped forward and sat down on her bed.

"So what about you then?" She felt the bed shift slightly when he readjusted himself to be more comfortable before giving her a confused look concerning her question. Sighing, she fell back on her bed, but rolled to her side and propped her head up by her hand so she could still look at him. "You said that the others are worried about me. But I want to know your take on it: are you worried about me?"

"It doesn't matter what my opinion is on your welfare."

"It always matters," she muttered in exasperation. She did a good job of concealing her surprise though when he broke their staring contest first, considering the fact that it was so rare for Heero Yuy to back down from a challenge. When he still gave no indication of answering the question though, she shifted the conversation and tried probing in a different manner. "So why are they worried?"

He looked back towards her, his dark blue eyes regarding her carefully. She knew without a doubt that he was taking stock of her current condition, examining every minute detail and looking for any signs of physical or emotional distress. She had learned recently that the poker face that she had worked hard to cultivate and utilize in the political arena no longer fooled him. She felt painfully exposed and tried not to visibly squirm under his close scrutiny.

"They think you're working too hard."

"Oh – that argument again." She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "I'm fine. Besides, I'm taking time off next week. There's no need for concern." She was unwilling to say more on the topic, and he was not inclined to push. So with that, the subject was closed. The minutes ticked by as they sat in a comfortable silence with Relena picking at the stray threads of her comforter and Heero merely gazing out of her window.

The nightly visits had become more frequent over the last year. At first, they had occurred when there were serious threats and he felt the need to stand personal guard over her, whether assigned or not. Then his nightly vigils expanded to seeing her the nights before major trips and delegation meetings that would require an extended leave. Most of the time he stood by the window or sat at the end of her bed. On very rare occasions, he would actually permit himself to lay down beside her, such as when Mrs. Darlian had died a few months back; there was no hesitation on his part to comfort the crying girl when she lost the mother that had raised her.

Either way, they would talk quietly into the night. He provided her the space to safely vent about the idiotic bureaucrats she was forced to contend with daily. Or they would launch into debates regarding the effectiveness of the latest methods to obtain peace. She provided him with company that didn't make demands of him. Although he never was there in the morning when she got up to start a new day, he always stayed until she fell asleep, even if it meant he didn't depart until the wee hours of the morning.

Tonight, Relena believed that he seemed agitated (or perhaps she was just projecting), or at least more agitated than normal over a threat to her safety. She put an end to the silence, still picking at the various jade green threads of her bedspread. "Am I in any real danger during this trip, or is everyone just overreacting?" She made no attempt to mask the exasperation she felt from her tone of voice, and Heero took note of her disdain of the circumstances.

"You're always in '_real danger_' Relena. And we are never overreacting when we take the actions we do," he murmured, exasperation creeping into his voice as well. How many times did people have to have this debate? Was the concept, that all threats to her safety and well-being were serious, really so hard to grasp? "Didn't we already have this conversation earlier?" he asked, nearly rolling his eyes. Lost in thought though, Relena ignored the rhetorical question completely.

"I'm always in danger…" Her whispered words were not a question but a haunting statement of fact. "How can anyone lead their life like that Heero?" she asked quietly, raising her eyes away from the comforter to find him staring at her intently. They both remained silent as the question hung over them with want for an answer.

* * *

A.N:

Hello,

So remember that time I wrote a story eight years ago and then didn't touch it for seven years after that? And remember how terribly written it was? Well, while cleaning out old storage boxes this summer, I discovered that I had actually written the entire story, and had only needed to type it up. But then, while reading it, I recognized what I wrote eight years ago was by no means literary gold, and decided to remedy the situation. Not that it's of any quality now, it's at least understandable and bearable. So, I revised the first three chapters I already had posted, reworked some of the subsequent chapters, and completed a story I had no intention of ever completing. Hopefully you'll enjoy it, hopefully it's better than what it was before if you read it, and hopefully there's still readers around who still love Gundam Wing and the Heero and Relena pairing in a plot that I can't claim is innovative or novel, but I hope is still worth a read. Enjoy.

-Crystal Delphina


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

**Breathless: Chapter 2** By Crystal Delphina

**Thursday March 30, A.C. 200 10:08 ~**

The stars were bright, yet so small compared to the earth and its own sun. Space had always been a place that she loved and felt comfortable in its infinite depth, but she knew that she her deeper connection was to the earth. It took her breath away, mentally at least, every time she left her secure planet to go amongst the vast emptiness that housed the colonies.

They had just left a little over a half an hour ago, just as small snow flurries had begun to dust the runway, and she was expecting another two hours of the shuttle ride at the very least. She glanced out her small window once more before returning to the book that lay open in her lap. She always found that plane and shuttle rides were the best times to read, and god knew how many rides she had to take and how little other free time she had to enjoy a book.

"Two of the diplomats have landed on L4 C-48779. The rest will arrive more or less around the same time as us."

Startled, Relena looked up to see Heero standing over her seat, presenting the update. After providing a curt nod of acknowledgement, she returned to her book and listened to him unlatching the storage compartment above her to remove a bag. The small and worn brown leather duffle in hand, he closed the hatch and took his seat across the small aisle from her.

At first the silence was pleasant. However as time wore on, she became painfully aware of how eerily quiet their section of the cabin had become, seeing as they were the only occupants and her bodyguard had not made a sound for the last ten minutes. Closing her book, she looked over at the young man curiously, only to find his eyes closed. She couldn't help but smile.

"I thought you slept last night." she whispered, not wanting to awaken the resting Preventer. A quick glance at her watch helped her to determine it would probably be best if she rested as well.

~:~:~:~:~

**12:32 ~**

She threw her personal belongings, which only included a small blue bag, onto her bed in the hotel room. She had an hour to settle in and do whatever she wanted before an extensive tour of the colony started.

"Tour and dinner today," she murmured as she opened her suitcase that had been delivered to the room for her. "Meetings and disputes all tomorrow until about three...hopefully reaching a decision by then." She removed her laptop from one of the various compartments in her bag. "Leaving tomorrow evening and finishing work over the weekend on the Gerabald proposal." She sat down at the small desk in the room and powered up the computer. "Hmm... I know I'm forgetting something..." She stared at the computer screen as it loaded, wracking her brain for whatever small detail she had neglected.

She looked at her e-mail and decided to blatantly ignore the two-dozen correspondences solely dedicated to her work. Instead, she was pleased to see an e-mail from her brother and quickly clicked the link to his message.

_Dear Relena,_

_I am writing to inform you that Noin and I will be arriving on Tuesday morning and leaving Friday afternoon for a mandatory update meeting with Une and other terraformation officials and investors. We realize that you're busy, but it will still be nice to see you, even for a bit._

_Noin won't stop harassing me about what you want for your birthday. Please inform me as soon as possible so she will leave me alone._

_Love,_

_Millardo_

Smiling, Relena quickly began typing a message back.

_Millardo,_

_I am also excited to hear you are both coming and I will gladly put aside time. Please let Noin know that I don't require a present because your presence is enough. I'm sure you think that's corny, which it is, but it's true. I love you both and cannot wait to see you._

_Love,_

_Relena_

After replying to her brother, she sent off an e-mail to Patrick to inform him that her schedule needed re-working to accommodate her brother. Deciding nothing else was important enough to warrant an immediate response, she disregarded the rest of her e-mails and closed the computer. Internally, she debated whether or not work was pressing enough that she needed to grab her briefcase for the thirty minutes she had before the tour. Sadly, she caved and made her way to her briefcase. However, instead of grabbing one of the dozen or so files she snatched up her murder mystery and kept reading.

~:~:~:~:~:~

**14:49 ~**

"I can already count about a hundred things they could improve," Relena whispered into Heero's ear as the group's tour-guide began explaining the renovation plans to help improve colony needs. While the goals had good intentions, Relena doubted their building plans to improve upon the dilapidated portion of the colony would actually address community needs and concerns.

Heero gave a small smirk and looked out of the corner of his eye to see her trying to cover a smile with her hand. She sobered up immediately when another delegate in the party looked over at the very unbecoming behavior of the vice foreign minister. Heero suppressed a chuckle when the young woman looked respectfully flustered as a result.

The rest of tour proceeded without further disruption.

~:~:~:~:~:~

**22:50 ~**

Dinner had gone off without a hitch, much to the delight of various government officials from the colony and delegates from neighboring colonies. Many were hoping that it indicated that talks would proceed smoothly the next day. The embassy compound that was serving to house all of the delegates for the colony proceedings had fallen quiet as all of the officials retired to their rooms for the evening.

"Delegate Demescus is secured in his room," came in clear over a small intercom in one of the colony offices. It had been one of many similar updates that had been reported in the last hour since the dinner and reception had finished.

"Miss Marcus from L2 is confirmed asleep," came across the terminal two minutes later.

The L4 C-48779 colony representative sat behind the large desk in the office as his officers continued providing periodic reports of their surveillance. All twelve delegates who had come to the colony that day had been closely monitored since the moment of their arrival – although they didn't know that.

A knock sounded at the door and the representative tore his eyes away from the communications terminal to regard the door with annoyance. "Come in," he shouted gruffly and was not surprised when one of his operatives came through the doorway. The young woman, the same one who had led the tour earlier in the day, saluted the representative and stood at attention awaiting orders.

"Is everything prepared for tomorrow?" he asked, looking back to the terminal when another report was heard.

"Yes sir."

The colony's representative gave a wicked smirk. "Good. Tomorrow we will be recorded in the history books as one of the greatest colonies ever. Tell Mikish to report to me as soon as he's finished with his task. That's all." The operative saluted and excused herself from the room just as another report echoed in the room.

"Darlian and her Preventer dog are secured in their rooms. Will report back when they are confirmed asleep."

~:~:~:~:~

Heero leaned against the door after they both entered Relena's suite. He watched her idly as she kicked off her blue heels to the far reaches of the room. "When are we leaving tomorrow exactly?"

Relena continued going about her business as she answered him, pulling bobby pins out of her hair, allowing her sandy blonde tresses to go free. "Oh I don't know. As soon as we're done with the talks, like I said. Most likely around 1400 or 1500. Why?"

"I don't like the looks of this place. I especially don't trust Representative Tallien. He just seemed so... fake," Heero muttered as he fiddled with one of the hammered brass cuff links of his Preventer jacket designed for more formal occasions. His eyes darted upwards when he heard Relena give a small chuckle as she took off the pale yellow jacket she had been wearing that complimented the deep navy of her dress.

"Fake? That's the best adjective you could come up with? All politicians are fake Heero," she paused for a second and gave a smile. "except for me of course." Walking over to her bed and sitting on the edge of it, she began to brush out her hair. Heero glared in half-hearted contempt at her dismissal of his concerns.

"When we get back, I'm informing Une that it would be best if she begins utilizing observation tactics here. They're hiding something," Heero moved away from the wall and stood over Relena. "I'm just saying that the sooner we leave tomorrow, the better."

Relena put down the brush and looked up at him, mindful of the fact his dark eyes were full of conviction and concern. Her heart stilled for a moment before she broke the gaze with a sigh.

"I'll see what I can do."

~:~:~:~:~:~

**Friday March 31, A.C. 200 14:12 ~**

Colony Representative Tallien kept the smile on his face while he shook hands with the other politicians. "Thank you very much. Your keen insights will help improve our colony's situation immensely." As he came to Relena, his smile seemed to deepen. "And thank _you_ for what you suggested. You will see many great _changes_ take place in this colony."

"You're welcome. I hope that we were of help," the young vice foreign minister replied with a sincere smile and firm handshake. Her job completed, she turned towards the shuttle hangers along with the rest of delegation party. Heero watched the exchange with suspicion and regarded Tallien with a steely gaze before following his charge at a respectable distance. During his career, Heero had come to determine what evil men looked like; and tall, broad shouldered men with slicked back dark hair and sinister green eyes fit his description as far as he was concerned.

As the terminal doors closed, what looked like an ordinary citizen ran up to Tallien just as the representative was removing his glasses.

"We are ready sir."

"Good. As soon as they are out of our borders... go after them." Tallien continued to stare out of a small window that looked out onto the others boarding their shuttles and preparing to leave. The civilian ran towards a control station, leaving Tallien alone.

"Yes," he began to wave as the first shuttle took off, "_great_ changes."

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"I'm glad that's over." Relena breathed a sigh of relief as she sat back in her chair after securing her belongings and seatbelt. She could feel the engines of the shuttle powering up preparing to launch out of the gravitational field of the colony and into space. The propulsion systems made her seat slightly vibrate as a computerized voice informed the passengers of the shuttle of safety procedures in the unlikely event of an emergency. Then with a roar, the shuttle accelerated and the lights in the hanger flew past in white streaks. And within the blink of an eye, the gray walls of the colony on either side disappeared, and blackness replaced them. She was happy to be heading back to the earth and her home.

The shuttle ride proceeded smoothly at first, as was expected. However, Relena was the first to see the flash of light off the port side of the shuttle, and her stomach immediately clenched in fear. She knew that it wasn't normal. Within moments, one of the low-level Preventer pilots of the shuttle came floating down the aisle. Heero was already up out of his chair.

"What happened?" he snapped at the pilot.

"Another shuttle just crashed into Director Selanes' shuttle sir."

Relena gasped in horror and quickly unlatched herself to rise from her seat. "What do you mean?"

"A shuttle crashed into theirs. Both exploded on impact."

"Shit." Heero pushed himself forward past the rookie and sat down in his empty pilot seat upon entering the cockpit. Immediately Heero changed communication frequencies to set up contact with the other ten ships that remained intact.

"This is Commander Yuy from Preventer shuttle P130Q. This is a direct command to shuttle pilots. Scatter and do not follow original flight plans. Head to the nearest colony and dock. Be prepared to take evasive actions. Repeat, spread out and dock at the nearest colony." Following orders, shuttles began to quickly accelerate and disperse, pulling further away from the colony that they'd all just departed.

"Get this thing going now!" Heero ordered the Preventer next to him who had been waiting to see if the commander had other orders. "Yes sir," the Preventer hastily replied as her fingers flew along the controls and the shuttle quickly accelerated.

Heero got back on the communication system. "HQ, this is Commander Yuy. We have trouble up here and request assistance. Come in."

No response came.

"What's wrong?" Heero asked, punching codes into the computer to change the frequency.

"They just put up a comm. distorter sir. I -"

"Sir, a shuttle has caught up with us. They seem to be rounding us for a starboard attack," the pilot shouted gritting her teeth in agitation.

"Relena, get in the back now!" Heero commanded as he turned and pushed Relena out of the cockpit. The young woman did as instructed and propelled herself partway into the main cabin area. Assured that she was as safe as she could be for the moment, Heero turned back towards the pilot. "Speed up. When I say 'now', decelerate without stopping the shuttle completely. They shouldn't be in a very maneuverable ship." The young woman nodded in acknowledgement and waited anxiously for Heero to give the order.

"Now!" The pilot slowed the shuttle, and to everyone's great relief, the speeding hulk of metal passed directly in front of them.

"Speed up and go," Heero instructed while looking back to his controls to try and relay a message to the Preventer base.

"They're coming around for another attack sir," The Preventer officer informed before realizing that their end was inevitable. Contradictory to what Heero believed, the shuttle was actually quite maneuverable and heading back directly towards them.

"Do again what you did last time," Heero brusquely ordered as he quickly jumped up and headed for the back of the shuttle grabbing Relena on the way and abandoning his hopes of securing a line to base. Flinging open one of the overhead storage compartments, he extracted a suit and forcefully shoved it towards Relena as he reached for another one. "Put this on now."

Relena complied and hastily fumbled to kick off her shoes before pulling the suit up over her clothes and zipping it closed, thankful that she'd decided to wear her black dress pants that day instead of her intended skirt. She fell backwards into the aisle with great force as soon as she finished. Heero, partially suited up, nearly fell on top of her but deftly supported himself against an armrest of one of the aisle seats.

He stumbled slightly as he promptly stood up to analyze the quickly deteriorating situation. The other shuttle had managed to impact their front end, though not enough to inflict major damage. Looking at the dust filled and flickering lights of the cockpit, he frowned when he saw the unmoving bodies of the two Preventer officers, presumably killed by the impact. The control panel was smashed apart, sparks flying across it like fireworks being set off. He imagined that the other shuttle wasn't done yet though - they were determined to finish them off for good.

There wasn't much time. This time, the enemy shuttle was positioning itself to plow directly through the middle. Heero hurriedly finished putting on the rest of his suit while instructing Relena to tie a cable around her waist. "We're going to have to abandon the shuttle. I doubt they will realize we left. Hopefully the other shuttles will send out a distress call." He snapped a helmet onto her head, then grabbed one for himself.

He began opening a hatch, hoping that the shuttle wouldn't come back and hit them for at least a few more precious and crucial moments. He firmly gripped the cable securely tied around Relena just before the vacuum of space pulled her out of the shuttle without any warning. She immediately felt disoriented as she spun slightly, free of the mechanisms of the shuttle that maintained a minimum gravitational pull. Mechanisms that were quickly beginning to fail because of the damage to the shuttle's main controls.

Initially using a bar by the hatch door to secure himself, Heero had managed to crawl out of the shuttle and was now bracing himself against the outside hull. Mustering as much momentum as he could, he pushed himself off the shuttle hull with his legs, dragging Relena behind him. She vaguely registered in her consciousness that Heero made a fine version of a human tugboat, but the fleeting thought was quickly dismissed when a flash lit up the immediate vicinity of space. She turned her head just in time to witness the attacking shuttle careen into her recently evacuated one, both going up in quick ball of fire and flying projectiles made of debris and scrap metal.

"Oh my god..." she whispered in shock, her heart momentarily stilled by the horror she witnessed. She unexpectedly bumped into her companion, distracted by the catastrophe, and as they began to slowly glide apart Heero reached out and halted the natural forces of physics.

"Don't talk too much Relena. You don't want to use up too much air." She gave a solemn nod of her head in understanding, before looking over to regard the wreckage again, pausing ever so slightly in her response. "Well I guess you were… right about the colony... How much air…do we have?"

"A little less than two hours. Preventers should arrive before then though."


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

**Breathless: Chapter 3**

By Crystal Delphina

**Friday March 31, A.C. 200, 14:38 ~**

A mere ten minutes before, Preventer agents and staff members had been completing their assigned duties, counting down the hours until they would be relieved for the day by second shift operatives at 1600 hours. Sadly, they were not to be blessed with a normal mindless Friday to begin their weekend. Instead, those precious ten minutes passed by painfully slow and then, unexpectedly, time exponentially sped up. Within seconds of the alert, all operatives on base were running to their stations and reporting to commanding officers to hastily carry out orders. Orders that were rapidly being issued from the esteemed level six by the executive commanding officers and the greatly agitated Preventers' commander.

**14:28 ~**

"Ma'am, we just received an urgent distress call from L4 colony X-72642. It concerns the meeting that just finished on C-48779. Reports are coming in indicating that the delegates were attacked immediately following their departure. There are reported casualties."

Une jumped up out of her chair almost immediately following the phrase "urgent distress call" and was already practically running out of her door towards the command center by "attacked" with the officer hot on her heels trying to finishing her report.

"How many confirmed shuttles down?" She turned her head to question her.

"Two. Selenas' and Darlian's," the young officer said without hesitation. "All others have docked safely."

"Go page all senior commanding officers and tell them to meet me in the control room. Hurry." The officer nodded and stopped at a nearby comm station while Une proceeded on her own. Une had just entered the control room when she heard the page fill the room, and the rest of the building, as it echoed over the speaker system.

"All senior commanding officers report to main control. Repeat, all senior commanding officers report to the main control room immediately."

"Put this base on red alert _now_. Get all lines up and get me a line with the surviving shuttles," she ordered, running over to the main console that housed a huge transmission screen above it. Within seconds, Sally was in the main control room shortly followed by her partner.

"What's wrong? Why is the base on red?" Sally asked upon entering, quickly walking to stand next to Une.

By 72 seconds, the senior commanding officers had all assembled - minus Yuy - slightly out of breath but ready for action and orders.

"We received a-" Une started before being interrupted.

"Ma'am, there is a universal band message that is interrupting all standard transmissions," informed a slightly perplexed officer that sat at a transmission console. As if on cue, a face appeared on the screen, and the room fell silent, focusing on the man. On the screen was Representative Tallien in all of his pompous glory, slicked back hair and all. The customized military uniform he wore obviously did not bare any relation to any previous regimes in recent A.C. history and the black uniform with crimson piping looked foreboding on himself and the fifty or so men and women gathered behind him in tight lines.

"This is an announcement of great importance to all so-called 'citizens' of the Earth Sphere United Nation. We, the residents of colony L4 C-48779," he gestured behind him towards his loyal ranks, "would like to declare our withdrawal from the ESUN and its control.

"I am also _pleased_ to inform you," he let the word 'pleased' roll off of his tongue in syrupy sadistic delight and let precious seconds slip by before continuing. Meanwhile, everyone at Preventer HQ held their breaths. "of the deaths of both Representative Director Selenas and Vice Foreign Minister Darlain.

"Their purported methods for 'peace' are no longer sufficient, satisfactory, or desired. The ESUN only functions as a feeble mask to hide the true nature of our state of humanity. The colonies and the Earth have been built by warriors and a strict adherence to the natural order of things. There is always a hierarchy, and to deny people the right to fight for a better position in that hierarchy – that is tightly controlled by aristocrats turned politicians – denies our human rights. Nothing has changed dear citizens. You are still under as much control as you were before. Those on top, such as the recently deceased Darlain, have just used a different label for the same weapon of control.

"Rebel! I know that there are disgruntled and disenfranchised rebel movements out there; take the opportunity we are now offering to you to advance. Although we made this possible by means of executing the former queen of the world - who you all so _deeply_ hold in your hearts - we will not allow you the satisfaction of revenge which her military dogs, the Preventers, will surely claim as a just action. We will gladly sacrifice ourselves, knowing that we helped sow the true seeds of change and rebellion. Those who truly seek justice and change, rise up and regain your right to weapons. Use whatever means necessary. Then our glorious deaths will not be in vain."

Tallien gave a curt nod of his head and immediately sirens and lights went off in the background of the scene, signaling the impending demise of the colony inhabitants. Whether all colony residents had been voluntary participants or not in Tallien's uprising, they were now on a rotating piece of metal in space set to self-destruct. Tallien left his audience with one last sinister look and accompanying smirk before the screen went dark. However, audio transmission was still intact.

"Watch your precious Darlain's demise," came his chilling voice through the darkness. The screen came to life again replacing Tallien's menacing face with that of the shuttle Relena had been in, the official ESUN crest visible on its hull. Earth Sphere citizens watched in horror as one shuttle collided into the other with a large fireball explosion upon impact, engulfing what remained of wreckage.

The room was deathly still and quiet as everyone in the control room stared at the screen in disbelief and shock, similar to the stunned audiences gathered around monitors throughout the earth and colonies.

Une spun around facing her command center, while the still-frame image of the crash glowed behind her as an ominous presence. "I want all of our ships, both colony and Earthside, headed to those coordinates now!" Une's glassy eyes didn't go unnoticed by her subordinates as she shouted the order, but no one would dare draw attention to the commander's momentary display of emotion.

People slowly awoke from the dream world and carried out what she commanded as quickly as they could manage in their frazzled states. However, the room remained eerily silent.

**14:38 ~**

"The people are in panic. We need-" Une was stopped mid-sentence when she was cut off by her communications officer.

"The colony just self destructed ma'am."

"Damn. Are you in contact yet with those ships yet? I want a full report."

"Reports indicate that they picked up Selenas' ship's destruction on radar, and then Commander Yuy ordered retreat to the nearest colony. They reported visuals of a rebel shuttle not far behind that of the Foreign Minister's. Attempts at contact failed though due to an apparent jamming device.

"Then apparently-" The officer paused a second looking down before promptly continuing with her briefing. "the rebel shuttle collided with the Preventer one." The officer solemnly turned back to her controls not wanting to see the look in the senior officers' eyes.

"Can-" Duo cleared his throat, then tried again with gruff determination. "Can we see the video clip one more time please?" Duo took a step closer to the console as the officer quickly brought up the fateful footage. He studied the video closely, his eyes furtively darting back and forth across the image as the events unfolded. He made the poor officer play it back at least three times before his eyes eventually widened.

"Rewind it! Yes, there. Stop! Play it again," he commanded of the young officer.

"There! Look! That has to be something other than debris," Duo shouted as he pointed directly at the screen at what looked like a small white dot that pulled away from the shuttle milliseconds before the impact. Une was beside Duo before he could say anything further, with the others gathering around to get a better look as well.

"Freeze that frame and zoom in as far as possible." Une scrutinized the picture as the officer did as commanded.

"Duo's right. Look, it definitely looks like two space suits." Hilde's expression brightened along with the rest of the occupants of the room. Suddenly the room didn't seem quite so gloomy.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

**15:04 ~**

"Do you think they've been alerted yet? Preventers I mean?"

"I would presume so, assuming that the other delegates made it to a colony…" he murmured then trailed off. Realization struck that he could not be absolutely positive that the other shuttles had found a safe haven. For all he knew, the rebel colony had established other shuttles on the space sector perimeter, ready and waiting to pick off any of the delegates who had managed to survive the first assault. Hell, for all Heero knew at that point, _all_ of the colonies could have decided to rebel, a full on war had commenced in the last hour, and every prominent military rebellious leader from Septum to Dakim had risen from the dead with the intentions to assassinate all the delegates and also every other politician in the ESUN.

While that might be a large stretch of the imagination, with a lack of communications systems, he wasn't one to balk at the unexpected and implausible – especially considering his life experiences to that point.

Relena was kind enough to disrupt his wild imagination.

"Why…?" she whispered quietly – so quietly in fact he hesitated in replying at first, unsure if she had actually said anything.

"Why what?"

"Why did this happen?"

"Other than the obvious answer of them wanting to kill you?" Most people would have said this with a teasing or sarcastic intonation to their voice, or at the very least, making it clear that what they said was in jest. However, Heero was not typical, and he asked the question with all seriousness.

"Of course other than that!" Relena snapped back, perturbed by his casual demeanor regarding the attempt on her life. If she had the gravitational capabilities at the time, she might have attempted to go stand in a corner somewhere and ignore him, although her present environment was lacking in corners as well.

Heero hesitated before attempting to talk with her again, trying a different approach at answering her question. "Not everyone is content with the thought of peace. Especially when many people's entire lives have revolved around warfare. Some can't let go of battle and surrender to peace when they've only been trained to operate within battle conditions.

"You Relena, because of your strict adherence to pacifism, serve as a direct and tangible symbol of the dismantlement of many people's way of life. And subsequently, their purpose in life as well. Once the battles are gone – those taught to fight no longer serve a purpose and no longer needed."

She allowed his quiet words to wash over her and she was transfixed on every syllable he spoke and every pause he took as he gathered his thoughts. Although she did not look at him while he provided his explanation, she knew that it wouldn't have mattered. She could feel that his solemn gaze was transfixed on some distant star and that he was lost in his own thoughts and reflections. The silence began to grow uncomfortable though as her mind kept mulling over one thought in particular.

"Do _you_ still feel that way?" she quietly inquired.

A full minute passed without any indication on his part that he was going to speak, and she wondered if she had offended him in some fashion. Finally he cleared his throat, and he fumbled at first with the words as he slowly verbalized his thoughts on the matter.

"Some – sometimes. Those feelings are rarer now these days. However, four years ago I struggled with the dilemma daily. I tried being a normal citizen: I tried going to school and even tried my hand at a part time job as a server at a café and later as a data guy for a small company. But I always felt uncomfortable, as if I was playing a part I wasn't cut out for.

"A small part of me, but a part of me nonetheless, was happy when the situation with the Barton Foundation broke out. Granted, you being kidnapped was not ideal… but at least I was doing something worthwhile again. Something more…_me_. I was able to function and I was good at it. But then I remembered what was at stake," he took a quick look at Relena before shifting his gaze again, "and was forced to recognize that I wasn't fighting to obtain peace like the year before but to make sure we didn't lose it. But sometimes…"

He looked her in the eyes and pronounced solemnly without hesitation, "I'm still a soldier. I'm good at fighting."

His words sent a chill down her spine that made her pause before proceeding with her reply.

"My experiences thus far in life have left me with little doubt that we will have to keep fighting to a degree to maintain peace. However, fighting does not have to be synonymous with violence and death. Each of us has been fighting our own separate battles in our own unique ways." She gave a dry bitter laugh. "Or at least that is what I would say if I was standing at a podium addressing the public.

"I believe in peace, don't get me wrong. I just question what I'm doing right now. I'll just be turning twenty next week while the rest of you are already legal adults. Hilde sometimes complains to me about how we never should have taken on these jobs. Whoever thought that giving a bunch of 16 and 17-year-olds control of the nearest thing to a military body that we have and giving one of them the title of Vice Foreign Minister was crazy. Seriously, they should have been fired. And we should have been sent to a mental health hospital for accepting."

Heero looked at Relena slightly dumbfounded. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked in complete seriousness, wishing he could place his hand to her forehead for further confirmation.

"Of course," she replied with a shrug.

"I've just never heard you speak so…"

"Honestly? Openly?"

"I may have used 'flippantly'. But yes."

"Well, when do I ever get the chance to? I believe in what we're doing. It's just hard to believe in myself all of the time. I'd be worried if I _didn't_ question myself and my decisions. However, we didn't really have a choice, did we? My dreams of becoming a pediatrician went right out the window as soon as I decided to take control of the Sanc Kingdom.

"What about you Heero? Would you have done something different if you hadn't become a soldier? You must have had dreams at some point when you were younger."

"All I have ever known is war. I have no memories before my training and I wasn't allowed to have dreams. They weren't useful to the mission."

The sad gaze that he received was not one of pity, but he flinched at her reaction nonetheless. She opened her mouth to say something, but after careful consideration, shut it again before deciding upon something else to share.

"I must admit that my life before meeting you and the others seemed to lack true significance or substance. Being a doctor would have been nice, but it certainly wouldn't have been as meaningful, or nearly as eventful, as what I've had the opportunity to take part in.

"The day I found you on the beach changed my life forever. And for that, I'm eternally grateful." She placed a hand on his shoulder and gave him a small appreciative smile. "For many reasons," she added.

"_Eternally - even after death..."_ The thought had flitted through her consciousness before she could really filter its meaning within the context of their situation. She wasn't afraid of dying in the midst of the vast expanse of stars – yet. How long had it been since they abandoned the doomed shuttle? Twenty minutes? Thirty? She cursed herself now for her usual disdain for watches. Either way, they only had roughly ninety minutes of air left. And what if the other ships had been attacked while escaping? They would have never had a chance to send out a distress call with the communications jammer in place.

Heero intently watched the unguarded emotions in Relena's expression. The diplomat had learned to carefully craft her demeanor and expressions to convey what she wanted people to see and believe. Gone were the days where she wore her heart on her sleeve, allowing easy access to those who wanted to rip it from her. However, when the young woman's guard was down, all those deep-seeded and genuine emotions she harbored from the world would come flooding back if she wasn't careful to control them.

Only very rare circumstances allowed for those tightly held reins to come loose, and only within the company of her brother, her friends, or Heero. The safety and security of those closely knit relationships provided the public figure with valuable time to truly be herself. It didn't take long for Heero to realize that those moments occurred most frequently during their midnight conversations, when he was able to talk to _Relena_, a 19-year-old girl that technically didn't even have her secondary school certificate, instead of _Vice Foreign Minister Darlain_. Pride and satisfaction swept through him with the knowledge she trusted him so deeply, enough to interact with him without pretenses or falsities in place.

He promptly tried to squash that selfish pride. Five years he had been around this girl, now a woman. And thanks to her stubborn persistence he had discovered a deep bond with someone, a feat he had thought impossible in his adolescence. And he couldn't ignore it; he had tried. He really had, but he couldn't ignore the fact that he reacted differently when he was around her.

He didn't get some 'warm fuzzy feeling' whenever he was around her (as Quatre had put it), but he did act differently when they were alone. Despite what others thought, Heero was not an emotional idiot and knew that his connection with the sandy blonde haired girl was different than the friendship and camaraderie he shared with Duo and Trowa, his deep trust in Quatre, or his genuine respect for Wufei. While he acknowledged there was something more with Relena, something different, if their connection did not operate on the same levels or within the same parameters as his comrades, he was still trying to determine how their relationship did function.

"Don't worry, they'll come soon."

Relena looked up in mild surprise.

"I know. Soon."

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

**15:20 ~**

"What the hell is going on?"

The full-size visual display of Millardo Peacecraft's glare would have even caused Heero to falter for a second.

"We cannot confirm anything yet at this point, but we've sent forces to the last known location. We have reason to believe that the Vice Foreign Minister and her escort, Preventer Zero, are alive. Preventer Scythe observed what looked like space suits leaving the shuttle craft right before impact."

"A shuttle is ready for our immediate launch. Noin and I plan to arrive in roughly thirteen hours. Hopefully by that point you will have retrieved her." Millardo looked away from the screen for a second before his hard stare rested on Une again. His tone softened though.

"You'll contact me with any updates, right Une?"

"Of course."

"Good. I need to leave now." He paused a second before terminating the connection. "Thanks." The screen darkened.

Without any time to spare, Une's attentions were directed to the next pressing issue.

"Ma'am, the Winner Corporation is requesting to help in search and recovery efforts. They said that they're one of the closest to the site."

"The Winner Corporation?" Puzzled, Une looked towards the officer.

"Company president Quatre R. Winner is insisting that we accept his aid. He says that he believes he's within range of the impact site."

"If it's Quatre, then grant him permission. Send him the coordinates immediately. See if he would like to rendezvous with Preventer Nanashi's ship."

"Yes Ma'am."

Within mere minutes, Quatre's shuttle was added to Preventer intel updates as a friendly vessel not to be fired upon when entering the restricted space zone of the search area. After being confirmed as an official aid to Preventer efforts, he was en route to meet with his close friend.

"Barton, brief him as soon as he arrives. Base out."

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

**15:33 ~**

"Why'd you come back?"

The question was sudden and out of the blue considering they had previously been discussing the setbacks the terraformation project had been experiencing. Heero had been weighing in on the subject when she blurted the question out, completely interrupting and halting his train of thought. In fact, she managed to completely derail it. He stared at her, with his mouth agape, for a good ten-second period before furrowing his brows.

"What?"

"You heard me."

He stared hard at her for a moment, slightly perturbed at being taken off guard and her 'no beating around the bush' attitude. Finally he sighed and shook his head. To be fair, they had never discussed his two-year absence after the Mariemaia incident was laid to rest. He had merely showed up one day at Preventer HQ and immediately obtained a position after completing a background check. His Preventer agent file had quickly been labeled classified and placed in the same cabinet as the other former gundam pilots' files. By the time she had showed up that same day for the scheduled weekly briefing at 10:00, he was seated at the conference table – _in uniform_ – next to Trowa.

The only visible reaction she had provided had been her blue eyes widening slightly and a momentary hesitation in the doorway before taking her seat. And without further adieu, they fell into an easy and comfortable friendship without ever uttering a word on his sudden departure, sudden return, or their two-year separation.

"There seemed to be a definitive end to the war. Uprisings, for the most part and barring this incident, were few and far between after Dekim's attempt. Preventers was the best option for me to adjust to these more peaceful times without getting rusty and still contributing something.

"Plus, I thought they were lacking in their security measures regarding the leaders of the ESUN..." he paused for a spilt second to glance at her before continuing, "The Barton incident could have easily been avoided with the proper precautions, better surveillance and intel."

Relena gave a small chuckle and Heero's gaze snapped towards her.

"What?" he snapped. The young man typically wasn't appreciative of people laughing at his apparent expense.

"Excuse me, but isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? What do you consider this situation here?" she said, gesturing towards the vast expanse of space they were currently floating in. She promptly started to laugh again. He grunted, annoyed at her…perceptiveness and directness.

"Hn. Nevermind."

With the question answered and his explanation adequate, Relena was prepared to let the subject drop for the time being. Heero was not the type to divulge all his secrets at once, and she wasn't going to take unfair advantage of his forced captive attention. She began spearheading the next topic of conversation.

"I'm sure my brother is—"

"I missed you."

"—furious…"she finished meekly, unsure as to what had just transpired and making her best attempts to process the completely random tidbit of information as quickly as she could.

"I'm sure Zechs is worried more than anything," Heero replied nonchalantly, continuing on with her proposed topic.

"Right. Worried," Relena repeated mindlessly, as the conversation shifted again without proper warning for a third time in a short seven-minute period.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"What's the ETA?" Turning her head slightly to gaze inquiringly at her partner, she waited for his response.

"Well, although our speed is probably breaking records right now, it's still one of the furthest colonies, short of the L5 cluster. We're looking at thirty minutes right now at best."

Hilde gave a slow nod of her head in understanding before turning back to her set of controls for the shuttle. "Duo," she began quietly, hesitantly, "what if they aren't there?" She wasn't about to tear up in desperation, but her voice did waver in fear.

"They will be, trust me. Knowing Heero and everything he's gone through, he won't let some shuttle take him down that easily. And I'm positive he probably wrapped Relena in space approved bubble wrap before leaving the shuttle. That was them leaving the shuttle Hilde. I'm willing to stake my best Leo power router piece on it." Duo shot her a goofy smile in his best attempts to alleviate the dismal situation. Hilde gave another nod distractedly, but managed somewhat of a small smile of reassurance.

"I hope you're right."

"So do I."

There was a moment of silence as they both carried out their shuttle duties.

"Wait…wasn't that the power router that _I_ found last year on the Nuella mission?"

"I don't know what you're talking about babe."

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

**15:43 ~**

"Heero." She gently prodded his shoulder to get his attention, when she realized his eyes were closed.

"Yeah?" he murmured, not bothering to open his eyes in feeble attempts to conserve energy.

"I'm getting cold."

At that, his eyelids flew open to scrutinize her.

"Your environmental systems should be taking care of that," he muttered, grabbing her left forearm to look at the suit's output monitors and gages. For a moment, his heart skipped a beat as adrenaline began to rapidly course through his proceeded to come up with a long list of obscenities in his head when the readouts indicated her environmental controls were failing due to the suit apparently losing power. And with the loss of power came the subsequent loss of oxygen.

He looked down at his own forearm and came up with a longer list of curses in his head.

"Why does mine say 150 and yours says 130?"

"Relena, we can't talk anymore. These suits are faulty. The best case scenario is that we can keep breathing and stay mildly warm for another twenty minutes."

The slow and small nod made it clear she understood the situation. However, she had no control over the shiver that raced down her spine and laced its way through her limbs. She bit her lip in anxiousness when she couldn't determine for certain whether it was spurred on by the slowly dropping temperature in her suit or the rush of adrenaline in her own body from fear.

To her great astonishment, his arm snaked around her from behind and pulled her close to his side and then readjusted her so they were pressed against each other. She looked up at him inquisitively but he didn't bother to look down at her, much less say anything. The young politician decided the gesture wasn't worth questioning and chalked it up to an excuse to generate some warmth, disregarding the fact that the conditions of space did not allow for generation of heat in that fashion.

**15:50 ~**

"Where the hell can they be?" Sally growled out while her eyes quickly scanned the radar. The three main teams had divided, each taking a different sector of space to search for the missing couple. It was only by chance that they had arrived first in their assigned location a good fifteen minutes before Hilde and Duo. "By now they could have drifted anywhere," she said despondently.

"Just keep looking. You know Yuy wouldn't go down that easily," Wufei calmly stated as he continued to pilot the rescue shuttle.

"Agents Water and Dragon, this is Agent Nanashi. I have Winner with me; we've finished clearing sector J296 in our area. Also, one of our teams has cleared J295 and another one has swept J230. We will continue on to the next sector." The voice of Trowa Barton rang through loud and clear in the shuttle. Wufei reached over and flipped a switch to open the line and respond.

"Affirmative. We have just cleared K935. We also just received reports from our teams that K618 and K520 are confirmed clear. Will also continue."

"Can we cut the formality crap? This is concerning our friends, not a mandatory sweep of the colonies," Duo cut through the briefing.

"Maxwell, this is still a Preventer mission and we are still officers," Wufei flatly answered.

"Is Une lurking over your shoulder right now in your shuttle? 'Cause she sure as hell isn't in mine breathing down my neck," he sarcastically quipped, annoyance lacing his every word. Wufei was preparing his response when Sally held up a hand to silence his rebuttal, deciding for the sake of the task at hand it was better she respond. They did not need a fight in the middle of all this.

"You're right Duo. We will not be so formal." She clicked off their side of the com-link, while she ignored the indignant looks Wufei was sending her way.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

"Ma'am, we are receiving a direct call from the office of President Bandruk."

"Fine, connect him please." With a small groan of annoyance, she prepared herself mentally to endure the President's wrath for the millionth time that day.

"Any progress Une?" he asked the moment the line was connected.

She had already been frowning before his face appeared, and his words only worsened the condition.

"No sir."

"The people are in an uproar and panic. It isn't helping the situation that Preventers has still refused to release a statement or update on the matter."

"I understand this sir, but we are uncertain of the condition of Vice Foreign Minister Darlain."

"You will inform me in the next thirty minutes with a clear answer. No more delays."

Une experienced a brief moment of immaturity and nearly lost her composure: she wanted to snidely apologize to the President for Darlain's selfish and inconsiderate nature, demonstrated by her sudden decision that it'd be best if she took a short fatal vacation in some god-forsaken corner of space. If _only_ Darlain would stop playing games and stop floating around so they could pick her up already.

Une's frown deepened to the point of a near snarl, although she was unsure if the older Moroccan man even noticed.

"Sir, I'm not sure if that is possible under the circumstances. It is also a harsh –"

"I don't care if it isn't possible," he snapped, cutting her off. "Just do it. And call me immediately if you do find her."

"Yes sir," she managed to reply while gritting her teeth.

Une made a firm decision to be sure to inform Zechs before even _considering_ issuing an order to alert the President_._


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

A.N.: If you have not read the previous three chapters that have been revised, I _strongly_ suggest you do so.

**Breathless: Chapter 4**

By Crystal Delphina

**Friday March 31, A.C. 200, 15:58 ~**

The time sluggishly crawled by in the deathly silence. However, as if trapped in some odd dimensional time-warp, each second, each breath, and each heartbeat felt like years collapsing in on each other. Each second that ticked by was one more second until their deaths. Relena could already feel the oxygen declining in her suit. How much more time was left? Considering how hard she was beginning to breath, she figured there was very little of the precious time left.

Well if this was how she was going to go, she needed to get something off her chest before she died.

"Heero…" she gasped slightly. Each breath she took was labor for her lungs and it felt as if large weights rested upon her delicate organs.

"Don't talk Relena," he ordered.

"Heero... if I'm going to die here... I'm going to talk," she replied with a small smile of opposition, taking a pause between her words to take deep breaths.

"You -" She cut off his attempts at protest.

"When we were younger, I followed you around ... the world and through space for one purpose...Heero. It's because you fascinated...me and made me feel...strong and capable of anything. And I admit I did ... have a silly school girl... crush on you."

"Stop it Relena," he growled out in mounting fear as each utterance resulted in aiding the already quickly depleting air supply.

"No Heero, I won't," she replied stubborn and defiant as ever, and his chest ached without explanation at the thought. "I have to say something and I'm going to say it, oxygen be damned.

"I was so happy every time you... would come back and my heart... would break each time you left. That crush grew into something that... I knew you wouldn't be able ... to understand back then, but I need... to tell you now before ... it's too late." By now, she was breathing hard and gasping in pain. She cursed herself for each breath she had used to take for granted and attempted to will her extremities to remain warm. This time Heero stayed silent and didn't fight her.

"I love you... and I always have," she whispered, looking up into stunned dark blue eyes. Some small part of her found his expression amusing and she managed to crack a small sad smile, despite the pain settling in her chest and hands as her body temperature rapidly began to drop. " I don't expect you to... reciprocate my feelings. I just wanted... you to know."

Ironically, she felt as if hours seemed to pass in the silence that took place after her confession, despite the fact that time had become their enemy.

Her confession left him baffled and he questioned the implications that her feelings towards him had on his own convoluted and ill-defined feelings towards her. His eyes searched hers in confusion as countless scenes of their interactions together over the years replayed in his head: He could still remember the taste of sand in his mouth after she had removed his helmet during their first tumultuous meeting on the beach. He vividly recalled how she had been such a skilled follower while dancing with her at the school ball, and how the other girls looked on in envy despite her plain outfit. His chest had felt tight in a similar fashion as it did now when he said goodbye to her on Libra, and he remembered that he was saddened by the possibility that they would never see each other again although he asked her to believe. Her warm embrace and the smell of lilacs on her blouse were still easily triggered when he thought back to how she supported him after he 'defeated' Mariemaia. He couldn't forget the sense of emptiness he had felt every night for the two years he was gone and how the emptiness quickly dissipated after he began accompanying her own trips and visiting her at night. He never slept as well in his own apartment as he did when he was sleeping in a chair in her room, much less on her bed beside her.

Images of Relena Darlain filled his vision: sandy-blonde hair reflecting the sunlight while she walked beside him as they made their way towards a waiting shuttle craft, blue eyes alight with fire and passion as she spoke in front of an assembly of politicians but still always found a moment to make eye-contact with him, deep and genuine smiles whenever she looked towards him and especially when she would crack a small joke that only they would share, and soft skin when she would causally place a hand on his shoulder or move his bangs out of his eyes when he was lost in his work. And the way she was looking at him now was the same way she had always looked at him over the last five years that they'd known each other. Her bright blue eyes were deep, piercing and full of, what he could only label as, affection; genuine and infinite unconditional affection.

And that's when it all snapped into place and he finally understood how to describe everything he'd felt over the past few years. "I have a confession also."

He noticed Relena's eyes were beginning to slowly flutter shut as her body began to fail her. Although his suit was worse off than hers, he possessed the training to function with minimal air. Despite this, as much as he hated to admit it, he was about to pass out soon as well as even his capabilities were being pushed to the limit.

"Relena, you have to stay awake." He gently commanded with concern lacing his voice as he shook her. Her eyes momentarily widened as she tried hard to concentrate on his face and his deep voice, knowing that it was important that she do what he said. But that deep voice had put her to sleep so many times before in the past…

"I came back because of you… I'm a soldier that's been trying to find peace… and I only feel that when I'm with you," he managed to murmur, taking long pauses to gather air. He was certain of the fact that he needed her, and certain that his desire to protect her at whatever cost was motivated by more than just a simplistic sense of duty. He was hyperaware of the knowledge that without her, there would be nothing else in his world worth fighting for and protecting.

Her smile deepened and she appeared to be the picture perfect representation of contentedness. She managed to bring a hand in-between them and place it on his chest, painfully forcing her fingers to clutch at the material of his suit that sheathed his heart underneath. "That's all I wanted to know," she said with a gentle whisper as her eyes fluttered shut.

"I love you Heero," she solemnly proclaimed, using her last resources of oxygen.

His arms tightened around her, drawing her closer, and he allowed his head to fall and rest on her shoulder. While a part of him screamed at himself to shake her awake and keep her conscious, he just couldn't force his body to comply. His own consciousness was quickly slipping from his grasp and his own body screamed in painful protest as a deep and penetrating cold settled in muscles and joints. He vaguely registered the morbid thought that he never foresaw himself greeting death in such a fashion; he had always envisioned his demise in the cockpit of a mobile suit or, at the very least, with a gun in his hand.

Despite the circumstances, the mobile suit pilot was comforted by the fact that he was with the one person that had managed to completely dismantle and reassemble his life. Before completely giving into the dark embrace of unconsciousness, he managed to complete one last task due to the force of sheer will.

"I love you Relena."

-*-*-

**16:06~**

"I found them!" Sally shouted in excitement, nearly jumping out of her seat as the radar in front of her clearly detected two organic life forms amongst a wasteland of metal debris.

"Where??" Wufei demanded immediately, snapping into action.

"35° port, roughly 9000 meters ahead. Hurry up and go." The young Chinese pilot programmed coordinates while re-directing the shuttle as fast as he could. The doctor beside him flipped two transmission switches; one to the other shuttles, the other connecting to the main base. "We found them. Coordinates MK 984. Repeat we found them. We're retrieving them now."

Sally moved at a speed she previously was unaware that she possessed. Within milliseconds of delivering the message, she had propelled herself from her seat and had strapped a helmet firmly over her head while simultaneously ensuring that the oxygen tanks were ready and set up for immediate use next to the two makeshift cots assembled in the larger portion of the shuttle along with her meticulously arranged medical supplies. After entering the decompression chamber at the rear of the craft and securing a shuttle operations cable to her suit, the blonde woman impatiently tapped her fingers against the exterior hatch of the shuttle. The computer display indicated she still had ten excruciating seconds left before the door would open while Wufei's voice over the intercom echoed in the chamber informing her that they were a mere 2000 meters from their destination.

And in an unforeseen serendipitous fashion, the light above the hatch door switched from red to blue as a large zero flashed at her from the system's display just as her partner pronounced, "We're here." She smiled as the shuttle hatch slid open and she used all of the force she could muster to push herself out into space before utilizing her suit propulsion system. They had finally found them.

And all the while, she could clearly hear the cheers from the other shuttles and the base over the still open com link that her helmet was connected to. This was a time to be happy.

-*-*-

"Duo, move this thing now and let's get over there."

"You got it babe," he said with a big grin. "Now didn't I say before everything would be okay?"

-*-*-

Quatre gave a sigh of relief, and was fairly certain he heard Trowa exhale a heavy breath in a similar fashion. Without needing any persuasion, Trowa headed towards the coordinates. Both of the men couldn't wipe the smiles off their face.

-*-*-

The control room at Preventers HQ on level six was something akin to what New Years looked like, sans champagne and fireworks. Officers gave wide smiles of relief, a few even daring to break protocol and exchange high fives and jostle elbows in congratulations. Despite the celebratory atmosphere that had quickly spread, one person stood with a frown still evident and instead strode over to the main console and pushed a startled officer aside to gain control of the open communications line. Despite the immediate relief she felt, she still couldn't afford to let her subordinates get too optimistic too soon.

"Stop! This isn't over yet people. It is still to be determined if they are even alive. Hold off the celebrations until he have confirmation of their condition."

Consequently, those in the control room and on the shuttles stilled immediately as the smiles disappeared with her words to be replaced by somber expression, waiting for the former military doctor's prognosis.

-*-*-

Sally's smile faded as well at Une's words, but morphed into a deep frown when she finally came upon the couple that were too still and silent for her liking. While she could feel her heart sinking along with her spirits, she couldn't afford to waste time. "Retract the cable," she ordered of Wufei after she had tightly grabbed onto both of them, her fingers digging into their actual skin despite the layers of clothing and suit material. When their eyes didn't even flutter and their bodies didn't even twitch with her jostling them, her fears mounted. A quick glance at Heero's suit monitor confirmed those fears when she saw that the number on the display was in the low-twenties, indicating critical environmental conditions in the suit. And the number only continued to decline as they were pulled back into the shuttle's decompression chamber and waited for the atmosphere shift to occur.

Tears began to collect in the corner of Sally's eyes – although she resolutely chose to ignore them – watching the red light above the hatch into the interior shuttle and willing it to turn blue. Her mind jumped between what felt like a hundred different thoughts and scenarios. However, four things stuck out:

The first thought was that they were non-responsive and although when she first grabbed them they had shallow, nearly undetectable, labored breathing, she was painfully aware that their breathing had stopped completely.

The second was that she didn't need to check their pulses to know that they were on the brink of a cardiac arrest.

Third, she had to do her job if they had any chance.

And finally, the thought she kept returning to despite her desire not to – they were about to die.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

A.N.: A late Christmas present.

**Breathless: Chapter 5**

By Crystal Delphina

**Friday March 31, A.C. 200, 16:11 ~**

Wufei was ready and waiting the moment the safety mechanism on the decompression chamber door unlocked, scrambling inside as the door opened to aid Sally. His nimble hands helped in the hasty process of ripping off their helmets, maneuvering them over to their cots, and helping Sally cut through the material of the spacesuits so they could effectively work on their patients.

"How long?" he asked roughly while using the medical scissors to attack Heero's Preventers jacket and standard issue uniform shirt after successfully ripping through the suit.

"They've probably gone two or three minutes without a constant and consistent oxygen supply. The suits were probably generating a quarter of the general required normal output."

As soon as Relena and Heero were prepared and positioned on their cots, Wufei's fingers flew across a nearby console to increase the gravitational output on the shuttle to ensure that their cargo didn't float off their makeshift gurneys while Sally desperately attempted to save their lives. Medical instruments began to clatter on the metal tray holding them as the ship's engines began to roar to life, powered up to start traversing along the auto-pilot course to the nearest colony that Wufei had programmed while Po was retrieving the couple. Best-case scenario was that at full speed they'd reach the colony in a little under ten minutes, but those minutes were crucial. Wufei pushed a button to open the communications channels and then resumed his work while giving his report, never looking away from his patient.

"This is Dragon. We have them, but they're in bad shape. We're currently on a heading towards colony L4-X-72642. ETA of nine minutes. There's no space dock hospital, so we'll need a secured medical transport and staff on immediate standby. We're also on auto, so we need our path completely cleared."

Throughout the Chinese man's methodical and blunt report, the Preventer agents began a well-rehearsed procedure of hooking the patients up to portable heart rate monitors -- which indicated their pulses were dangerously non-existent – and starting chest compressions after securing air compression bags to their mouths. Trying to do the job that ideally would be performed by an entire ER staff was difficult with only two, but they were the best two for the situation.

"Understood. We're contacting the general hospital now." Une's voice came in clear through the shuttle's speakers, and Sally did a remarkable job of listening to her commander's orders while keeping careful track of Relena's heart rate monitor display. "Shuttle forces under Dragon and Water's command, issue a no-fly enforcement for the route Dragon is taking and make sure it stays clear," Une ordered of Wufei and Sally's subordinates that had been helping them sweep their space sector. Various voices floated over the transmission in acknowledgement of the order.

"This is Scythe. We're closer to the colony and headed directly there."

"Nanashi here. We're doing the same."

"Fine. We just received confirmation from the colony, and they assure us that they will be able to complete the transport in two minutes. Make sure the route and means are secured. Send your forces ahead to secure the hospital as well."

"Understood," Duo and Trowa confirmed in tandem. Unseen by Une, the respective co-pilots of both commanding shuttles were already on headsets issuing orders to their respective fleets. Despite the fact Quatre technically did not hold a rank or position within the Preventers force, his orders to secure the medical transport path went unquestioned by Trowa's forces, nor could they find any fault with his security instructions which were practically of textbook quality. Hilde's sharp nod was clearly understood by her partner to mean that their own troops had undertaken the task of securing the hospital and doing background checks on the staff to the best of their abilities in such a short period of time.

Meanwhile, the normally reserved Wufei bit his lip in agitation as he forcefully pressed down on his comrade's chest, cursing the reckless Yuy under his breath with every compression, and ordering his heart to start beating properly on its own. While the transmission device was not sensitive enough to pick up his verbal tirade so everyone could share in his obscenities, Sally could clearly hear the young man muttering to himself that he'd be damned if Yuy died on his watch and he'd be sure to kick his ass the moment the former L1-colony resident recovered. Nearly jet black eyes narrowed in concern; what should have normally been warm flesh under his hands was instead still cold to the touch, despite the high temperature of the cabin. "Thanks. See you there. Dragon out."

"Nanashi out."

"Scythe out."

Although her senior officers would never see it, Une gave a small smile before terminating her line of the transmission. "Good work you guys."

But the Preventers Commander and other senior C.O.s didn't hear the painful whine of the machine that sent a jolt of dread through both of the cabin's conscious occupants.

"I need the crashpack! She's flatlinning!"

And for one painful split-second, Wufei had to weigh the likelihood of Heero going into cardiac arrest as well if Wufei were to stop compressions to help in Relena's survival. The moment passed though, and with a frown, he abandoned his patient as he turned around and grabbed the paddles off the crashpack and waited for it to charge.

Wufei was confidant in what decision Yuy would have wanted him to make. However, that knowledge didn't help in erasing his grim expression.

"Clear!"

The politician's body involuntarily jerked, while a few meters away, a heart rate monitor indicated her bodyguard's heart had skipped a beat.

-*-*-

**16:15~**

Une briskly made her way to a private room with a secure line. With the big emergency, she wouldn't have much time until her presence was required and she was called back into the chaos. Leaving the central command room for even these few moments could already be considered irresponsible on her part, but she knew she had another obligation.

With the occasional furtive glance towards the door, she feverishly began typing at the open terminal in the room. After providing the computer with the proper security clearance codes, she calibrated the systems to the frequency that she knew Zechs would be monitoring. Just as expected, his face immediately came up on the small screen without even a second alert beep. While his expression still was stony, his glowering at her was not nearly as impressive as it had been earlier on the main control room's larger communications screen.

"Please say you have good news," he started, his intonation indicating the request was, in actuality, a not so subtle order.

"Well…" her dark eyes darted away from looking at the screen, instead contemplating the best method of phrasing the news. If she didn't give proper consideration to her wording, there was no telling how he'd take it – or what his subsequent actions would be. In the midst of the Earth sphere state of emergency, she really could not afford to have a renegade agent hell bent on vengeance to deal with as well. Plus, the necessary formal government meetings for explanation and paperwork would be a bitch to complete on top of all of the other job obligations that were quickly accumulating due to the current state of affairs. "We have good and bad news. Which would you like first?"

"Good," the blonde answered without hesitation.

"We found her and Heero about three minutes ago."

"But....," allowing his word to trail off as an obvious prompt for her to continue, icy blue eyes narrowing in suspicion.

"But," she continued after taking a deep breath. "they were both unconscious upon retrieval, and their air supplies might have cut out for a good chunk of time. Right now Water's doing the best she can and pumping all the oxygen she can – safely – in to them."

"Understood. We'll be there shortly. Which colony?"

"L4-X-72642 at the general hospital," she replied, appreciating his minimalist form of communication. Straight and to the point, it was what she expected the communication style of a good soldier to be; get the information and go. And Zechs certainly fit her criteria for an exemplary solider – in most circumstances.

"Fine. Keep me updated. The second she comes to, get me on the line." His hand reached presumably for the switch to terminate the connection, but he hesitated. Une quirked a single well manicured eyebrow in curiosity, noticing his eyes shifting away from the video screen in front of him. The former Lightening Baron cleared his throat, and regarded his commanding officer with a steely look. "Also Une, as her only living relative, drastic medical decisions cannot be made without consulting me first."

"Of course Zechs," the woman said with a small bow of her head in acknowledgement of his request. With her promise – although he still looked rather dour – she received a curt nod from him before he closed the line. Une was silent as she shut down the terminal and contemplated Zech's order. There was no mistaking what he was trying to convey, and the clarity of his intentions made her frown in frustration and worry; Zechs had just made it clear that if there was a question over whether or not life support was to be continued for the vice foreign minister and younger sister, he would be the one to make a decision. The thought that such a consideration may even be necessary was a sobering one.

Straightening her shoulders and standing tall, the dark haired beauty marched out of the small room to take back control of the still frantic base. "Time to inform Bandruk I suppose," she muttered in annoyance.

-*-*-

**16:23~**

The moment the hanger doors closed, medical transport staff bombarded the shuttle that was still completing its final landing procedures. The relief flooding Sally's face was visible as doctors rushed onto the shuttle to relieve her of her chest compressions on Heero. His irregular heart palpitations throughout the torturous nine minutes and twenty-six seconds ride had been a roller coaster of too many close calls. Although her partner and herself had managed to stabilize Relena for the most part, Heero still proved difficult up until the end, which had resulted in even Wufei's brow wrinkled in concern while he re-engaged manual control and steered the shuttle into the orbital field of the colony.

The troublesome bodyguard and his charge were rushed to the colony hospital's ER, escorted on the helicopter ride by doctors and Preventers alike, both parties trying to ensure the patients' survival. Once through the hospital doors, an entire hospital staff and medical team sprang into action, rolling the survivors away on gurneys into the emergency rooms. Forced to take a Preventer ground convoy to the hospital, Wufei and Sally were only moments behind their friends. They burst into the ER wing just in time to see closing doors block their view of messy brown hair down at the opposite end of the hallway as a doctor quickly left Heero's room to go check in on the other patient.

"Clear!" emanated from the room of the former gundam pilot.

Fatigued and weary, Sally felt her legs begin to wobble and lose the ability to support her full weight. Her hand fumbled for a solid surface, such as the nearby cream-colored wall, and as she felt herself collapsing her search became frantic. Just as her knees buckled and she felt herself pitching forward, a strong arm came around her waist and pulled her to the solid surface she'd been looking for, and she was not surprised to find it warm and yielding. Her fingers clutched the dark green canvas jacket beneath them, and she rested her forehead on the firm shoulder of her partner with a small sigh as she felt his hand move in small circles on her back. She almost managed a smile when she heard him trying to soothe her by murmuring "shhh" and "It's alright now" in her ear, something most would consider terribly uncharacteristic of her normally stoic and withdrawn partner.

"You did well Water. You kept them alive."

Sally had managed to keep their vital signs high enough for them to be considered clinically "alive", thanks to the equipment they had onboard their shuttle and her medical knowledge. However, during those excruciatingly painful nine minutes and twenty-six seconds it took to reach the colony, those vital signs wavered and dipped to critical levels for both of her patients. And while she had kept them wrapped tight in thermal emergency blankets, and kept them secured to oxygen supplies, their lips never seemed to change color from that painful and deathly blue. And they had remained so still, unresponsive to all of her attempts of physical stimuli. Sally had managed to stay calm and collected to make sure they received the best care that she was professionally capable of, but in the back of her mind, she never could completely shake off the thought that she was watching her friends die in her normally strong and capable hands.

The deep breath she took filled her nose with the scent of spices, sweat, and gunpowder, and she allowed herself to go momentarily limp in his arms. He provided no indication that the sudden weight was a burden on him and he easily supported her in his arms. He felt her forcibly flinch when they clearly heard another shout of warning come from Heero's room before the doctors presumably used the defibrillator again. Wufei closed his eyes and took a deep breath to calm his own nerves before he pressed his lips to the top of Sally's head, kissing her damp blonde tresses.

"Thanks Dragon," came the muffled expression of gratitude from the depths of his jacket. He provided her with one more tight squeeze before she gently extracted herself from him and slowly leaned back on her own feet, relieved to find her stability had been returned. The affectionate small smile he received warmed Wufei's heart but did not manage to dislodge his frown of concern for his partner. The moment between the two Preventers was effectively ruined though when the three other senior officers and Winner Corp. CEO came rushing in. The group's haste to reach the hospital was apparent, looking disheveled and out of breath on the whole.

"How are they?" the blonde young man asked breathless. When Sally looked away and Wufei crossed his arms, no further answer was required, resulting in various frowns and grimaces.

Right on cue, a doctor rushed past the small group of concerned comrades, and before she could escape into the emergency rooms for safety, Trowa's hand darted out to softly grab her by the elbow to gain her attention. "Sorry doctor, but what's the word?"

She scrutinized the hand on her arm closely before bringing her green eyes up to regard the group with a stern but gentle gaze. "We're doing the best we can. We'll have a better understanding of the extent of the damage and their prognosis soon." She looked down pointedly at her elbow, indicating that she was done with her report and needed to get back to work. Trowa released his grip with an expression that somewhat mimicked that of a sheepish child that had just been scolded. She began striding away, but paused for a brief moment. "Pray for them," the doctor soberly muttered over her shoulder before she grimly made her way towards the exam rooms of her patients.

Hilde heaved a frustrated sigh while she ran her fingers through her short dark hair in agitation. "Well that certainly was informative."

"Cut her some slack," Wufei muttered, discreetly looking over at Sally to gage her reaction. If the others weren't careful with their words, they could end up unintentionally insulting the Preventer doctor who already felt that she hadn't done enough.

Hilde's contemptuous snort in reply was a blunt indication of her feelings on the subject. Her mouth opened to begin a verbal tirade on the obvious inadequacies of the colony hospital and its medical staff, when Duo quickly placed a hand over her mouth. He ignored her indignant glare and instead slowly shook his head and mouthed a simple "stop". She narrowed her eyes in questioning, making it clear that if Duo did not provide a good reason for his actions, she'd be sure to exact her revenge. He merely looked at her then pointedly looked at Wufei, in turn directing her eyes to follow his line of vision and examine the other senior officer. The Chinese man's look of menace was hard to miss in even a cursory glance of the expression in his eyes. Finally gathering why Duo stopped her, she was thankful that he had taken the actions necessary to preserve her life.

When they locked gazes again, she gave a small nod in understanding and Duo slowly lowered his hand, the corner of his lips quirking up in a small smile.

"I know you're frustrated outta worry, but ya just gotta let it go. They're doin' the best they can," he said lowly. His eyes brightened though and he spoke up louder so the rest of the gathered party could hear him, "Plus, I already told ya they'd be fine."

Thus, nine minutes slowly ticked by and the scurrying of nurses and doctors did not subside in the least, which they did not know whether to take as a positive or negative sign. The group had settled down into either sitting down in the blue plastic hospital chairs or taking stances against various walls. Trowa had been forced to attend to his duties as senior security officer and had done a quick sweep to ensure that all agents were stationed appropriately at the entrances to the hospital and had secured the upper floors that were still operating for normal hospital use. When he returned from his task, Quatre looked up momentarily before continuing his pacing.

"Sally, were they really in that bad of shape?" he asked, walking past his friends seated in the uncomfortable waiting room chairs for the 30th time. Sally's frown deepened before she gave the best answer she could manage. "They didn't look great, that's for certain. But they were doing okay considering how long they had been without oxygen. However, that doesn't mean much."

Wufei silently noted to himself that Sally still had failed to mention the numerous close calls they'd experienced with Heero or Relena's brush with death when she flatlined. However, he couldn't help but admit that he hadn't confessed to the critical moments on the shuttle either. He could only draw the conclusion that Sally was making an attempt to protect her friends from the dismal reality of the situation, and if that was the decision his partner thought was best, he would support her through his own continued silence.

"Well that's great to hear," Duo scoffed halfheartedly. "We manage to find them but still don't get there in time to actually save them." He clenched his hands in frustration as he desperately fought the urge to smash the vending machine he was leaning against. While he had been happy to calm Hilde down and belay her fears earlier, that was nearly ten minutes ago. And those crucial ten minutes had grated at his own fragile positive outlook.

"We're not sure of anything yet. Let's just wait and see," Trowa murmured in an attempt to calm the fraying nerves of his anxious comrades. Sally was not so easily assured though. She glanced up at the clock on the wall opposite of her and vaguely registered the pain on her lower lip due to her gnawing at the sensitive pink flesh with her teeth.

-*-*-

**16:53~**

Muffled whispers echoing from the hallway nearby caused Hilde to lift her head. She turned her head and strained to hear what was being discussed by who she assumed to be two nurses.

"Did you hear…"

"Yes that's right, and to think…"

"…dead"

" …and that young man…"

"Tragic…"

"…too bad…cute couple."

The hushed voices continued exchanging their information and gossip, unaware of their eavesdropper. Hilde stiffened in her chair from the snippets of information she had heard, her thoughts ruminating over "tragic" and "dead". Her eyes flitted across the room to see Sally sitting on the edge of her chair as she stared intently at the same hallway that Hilde had been looking towards. Finally, the older blonde woman sprung to her feat and hastily made her way to confront the voices and Hilde continued to try and decipher the conversation.

"What do you know…"

"When.."

"Where is.."

"…soon…"

"…one more."

When Sally came back around the corner, the others couldn't help but grimace at the evidence of apprehension on her features. No one dared to ask as to why. As badly as they all wanted to know how things were proceeding, they didn't want to face the possibility that they wouldn't receive the answers that they were looking for. Finally unable to avoid the topic any longer, the former Sandrock pilot cleared his throat and broke the heavy silence.

"So…," he gave a small cough." How are they?"

"The doctor should be here any minute. The nurses refused to tell me anything," Sally quietly replied.

No one had the courage at that point to give voice to what they were all thinking: the nurse wasn't free to disclose the information because serious news was best handled by a doctor, such as in the event of the death of a patient_._

And just like that, as if waiting for a cue, a doctor rounded the corner and entered the room to be confronted by six grim faces. No one was comforted by the doctor's presence though when they noted that his expression made seven.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

**Breathless: Chapter 6**

By Crystal Delphina

**Friday March 31, A.C. 200, 16:56 ~**

In certain professions, you eventually become accustomed to the ritual of receiving a doctor's prognosis and debrief of the situation. The Preventers that were currently gathered had entered the likes of both elite private hospital emergency rooms and guerilla backwater medical tents countless times. Over the course of the last six years or so, they had switched back and forth between the roles countless times of either the concerned comrade checking in on their partner or the unfortunate schmuck the doctor was talking about. Trowa's punctured lung, Quatre's torn ligaments in his shoulder, and Sally's shattered knee were just a few of the injuries and war wounds the group had sought medical care for. Even Wufei had a brief run in with the doctors in scrubs and surgical masks when an infiltration mission went horribly wrong, his cover was blown, and he had to be air lifted to a hospital to try and remove the bullet fragments dangerously close to some of his vital organs.

Despite this, the procedure of the doctor coming in to talk with family – or those with the proper security clearances – always was the same and began with a very sympathetic look whether or not the following news would be good or bad. Eventually, after numerous run-ins, you could read the body language and non-verbal cues long before the physician would open their mouth. That's why, despite the multiple close calls the group as a whole had gone through, they knew instantly with one glance at a doctor's posture, or way of holding the clipboard, that who ever was laying incapacitated on the gurney would eventually pull through.

Plus, it didn't hurt their chances that the group gathered happened to be the luckiest sons of bitches on the planet and colonies combined. This of course was part of the reason why Une hired them in the first place, banking on the fact they were pretty damn near impossible to kill. This natural phenomenon was also part of the reason why that despite the fact Hilde slipped into another coma during a mission, Duo hadn't been biting his nails in desperation. He calmly held her hand, talked to her some, and enjoyed watching the final playoff game between the L1 Lastoon University Lances and L2 Neustros Institute Tigers. Coincidentally, Hilde awoke with Duo jumping up and down and shouting at the ref on the screen who threw one of the players out of the game for allegedly using the basketball in less than a sportsman like manner. She, understandably, did not talk with him for a week after her release.

Things were different now though. This entire situation was different. The collection of former various military personnel, mercenaries, and gundam pilots may have been lucky SOBs, but Relena was not part of that mix. She was not graced with the same protective aura that managed to shield the rest of them through a mixture of skill and sheer dumb luck. And Heero had ended up in the hospital more than all of them combined. The doctor's expression seemed to indicate that Lady Luck may have had her fill at the roulette tables and decided to cash in her chips and call it a night.

Just like all the times before, they knew how this ritual would play out. And suddenly, for one of the first times in a two-year period, they had real cause to be concerned.

"The good news is that they're breathing." The older black man removed his glasses and began rubbing at the bridge of his nose, and heaved a deep sigh. Dr. Solomonti had been working in the colony hospital for more than seven years now. He had acquired the job shortly after moving to the colony, an attempt to get away from the other hospital settings that had required constant triaging of civilians and soldiers wounded by the war. While this colony hadn't escaped the combat unscathed, it was certainly better than the L1 colony where he completed his residency. Despite his attempts at a calmer life, here he was now, seven years later, chief of medicine, and he had the pleasure of the vice foreign minister laying unconscious on a gurney in his hospital and Preventers peace soldiers swarming the building. Solomonti gave another heavy sigh and was thankful for the fact he shaved his head. Otherwise, he was certain his hair would have begun prematurely graying later in the day.

"They're in critical condition, on life support systems, and have not regained consciousness. We've done all we can under the conditions. But those minutes their brains went without oxygen is critical and can be severely damaging." Using his dark green tie to begin wiping smudges off of the lenses, he began to absentmindedly clean his glasses. Solomonti figured that if he was going to have to look some of the deadliest soldiers in the ESUN in the eye when he delivered less than favorable news, he had better make sure he could actually see them clearly when they came charging at him.

"Are you saying they're not going to wake up?"

"We cannot say for sure Mr. Barton," Solomonti responded, placing the wire-rimmed frames back in their proper positioning on his face. He gave a small grimace, his feeble attempt to steel himself for his next task. Finally, the expression changed to provide a sympathetic look to the concerned onlookers. "I'm saying that right now, the situation is not ideal. I will need to talk to family members soon though to start discussing options…."

The intentional trailing off was clear in its disturbing implications, and chests throughout the room began to tighten and constrict. "_Options"_ was not a good word. _Options_ meant "do we cut life support now or do you like vegetables?" _Options_ meant that Zechs Marquise would not be happy and would likely get his hands on the nearest black-market mobile suit and go obliterate whatever pieces of scrap metal that were still floating in space where the now destroyed colony once rotated. Hell, knowing Preventer Wind, it was highly unlikely he wouldn't stop with just one colony regardless if other space colony outposts were innocent or not.

When Solomonti confirmed that no one had the strength or courage to lift their heads to ask him anything further, he gave a sad smile. As he made his exit, he assured the group that he would immediately return if there were any updates. His words fell on deaf ears.

**17:04~**

She paced back in forth in front of the comm screen, trying to determine the best course of action. On one hand, he needed to know. The doctors _needed_ him to know so they could begin those complicated and difficult deliberations on how to proceed. Plus, he needed to know because he deserved to know.

She sharply turned on her heel to begin her trek back across the polished stone flooring.

On the other hand, he was a beast; a very deadly beast that could wreck mayhem and make an already difficult situation more messy. She'd already ran the various scenarios through her head, and had shivered at the worst case scenario. It involved sapphire eyes that promised death and would be sure to deliver. At least during the war, that god-awful white mask had hid the terrifying look.

She turned again, and long dark brown hair flew around her with the motion.

She had seen his grim expression many times during their countless interactions together while jointly working for Oz. At the time, she both feared and admired the masked soldier, oftentimes wondering what was being concealed from view. However, things had changed as his commanding officer – that now had _slightly_ different priorities than five years ago – she was concerned he may prove detrimental to her primary duty as outlined in her job description. Peacekeeping was extremely difficult when your own forces were the one's wrecking havoc. And she already had enough politicians clamoring all over her for this horrendous day.

"Fuck," she said resolutely, finally accepting what she had to do, and there was no use in employing feeble stall tactics. Her task of delivering countless reports of bad news today was becoming more than a tad trying, and she was just wondering how long she had left before someone finally shot the messenger.

While she waited for the connection, she weighed her options. Most likely, it boiled down to shabby attempts at small talk, padding the bad news, or a swift delivery. Preventer Wind's image appeared on the screen and she made her decision.

"The doctors have informed me that at this point, considering the amount of oxygen deprivation and onset of hypothermia, that it is unlikely they'll recover." Une promptly looked down at the console in front of her, unable to meet the man's eyes. Although she would never admit it, she was petrified by the possibility of finding a look filled with fear and sorrow if she looked up at the screen. If she witnessed his pain, there was a very likely possibility that she would begin to cry. And she couldn't afford to lose her composure at a critical time like this when she was still in command and still making decisions pertaining to people's lives. The few minutes she was sequestering herself in her office to tell Zechs the news in private already seemed like she was letting her emotions interfere with her professional duty.

Her breathing sounded loud in her ears when the man did not give any form of verbal response. At this point, she might have preferred his anger and the predicted rampage.

"It's okay," someone said, cutting into the silence. Noin's face suddenly appeared on the screen and she glanced between the image of Une on their monitor and her silent and stony partner. "I have total faith they both will wake up soon. Just be patient and you'll see."

Zechs was unable to provide anything in terms of a response other than a loud exhale of the air he'd been holding. What else could he do at this point, when he was still trying to get back to the same orbital field as earth and the colonies?

"Update me further with any new developments," he muttered roughly, reaching to turn off the monitor. Noin's pale hand stopped him and she looked at him evenly.

"Let me take the controls for a bit. Go get something to drink or go lay down." He opened his mouth to protest. "Now. That's not a request Zechs – it's an order."

The platinum blonde closed his mouth and after another moment's stubborn contemplation, finally got up and left the cockpit of the shuttle. Assured that he was gone and hopefully out of earshot, Noin looked back at Une who had watched the interaction without comment. "So tell me, how bad are things really?"

Une ran a hand over her face, trying to rub away the fatigue and mounting stress. "Three fires have emerged since the announcement, however they were dealt with swiftly by field forces. Sally thinks that the doctors are not being completely truthful, and that they are unwilling to come out and say that there is no chance of recovery. Relena, because of her political status, is most likely an impact upon that.

"The people in general are shaken, and the President can't seem to calm them, which means he's breathing down my neck instead. And I'm beginning to run low on energy, and I'm sure I'm suffering from stress related pre-mature balding and wrinkling. As soon as this situation is resolved, I'm taking a bath and sleeping for 17 hours."

Although Noin's face fell in disappointment, her sad smile still remained.

"I understand. Thank you. Please tell the other's to keep their spirits up for everyone's sake."

"Yes Ma'am," Une mock saluted, cracking the closest thing to a smile she could manage.

"We'll be reporting in soon, Ma'am," Noin threw back, reminding Une of her superior position.

"Understood Fire."

With the connection terminated, Une leaned far back in her chair and closed her eyes. Professionalism be damned, if they desperately needed her, they could come get her. She needed a ten-minute nap if there was any chance of her continuing to navigate the mess of the day.

**Saturday April 1, A.C. 200, 03:21~**

"And for just a few small payments a month, you too can have dazzling radiant eyes that will –"

_Click_.

"—be part of the solution in our new era. Join Preventer peace forces today. Local recruiting offices will discuss with you how you can join an elite guard to protect an era of peace that you can be proud of. See your vision of –"

"You've gotta be kidding me." _Click_.

"— as promised, we are closely monitoring the unfolding situation with Vice Foreign Minister Relena Darlain. While ESUN President Bandruk has yet to issue an official statement regarding the attacks and the colony in question, that self-destructed shortly after the attacks, colony officials from L4-B6629, the home of Representative Selanes killed during the attacks, have assured the public that they will not take retaliatory actions in the spirit of the former colony leader.

"After an attack on Darlain's shuttle around 14:30 orbital space time by colony guerillas, search and rescue Preventer forces were deployed to search for Darlain amongst the wreckage. Found nearly an hour and a half after the attack, Darlain was apparently in critical condition from substantial injuries, including head trauma, and oxygen deprivation. We have Tyler Balstrice outside of the hospital where doctors are closely monitoring Darlain's condition. Tyler?"

"Thanks Felecia. This colony hospital has been a hotbed of activity for nearly the past twelve hours, with doctors and hospital staff frantically running around and Preventer forces keeping the hospital under strict surveillance. However, one hospital staff member, who has asked to have her identity protected for obvious reasons, has let slip that doctors have a concern that there may be _two _lives hanging in the balance. According to a verifiable lab test, the Vice Foreign Minister may be pregna –"

With one final _click_, the television screen went dark, and the remote control for the device was seen careening towards the screen. Quatre quirked an eyebrow in surprise as he rounded the corner into the waiting room, only to see the remote control fall a few inches short of cracking the screen. Turning to face the culprit who threw the projectile, Quatre wasn't surprised to see a disgruntled Duo glaring at the monitor. When Quatre didn't say anything and continued to stare with his quirked eyebrow, obviously bemused, Duo began gesticulating madly in his own defense.

"Lies! It was all lies! She didn't suffer head trauma. And she certainly ain't pregnant! Ignorant insensitive bastards! Spreading gossip about Relena, when she's laying in a hospital bed in critical condition for fucks sake, is just – just – just wrong!" Duo spluttered, too caught up in his rant to actually formulate any more of a complicated descriptor for the media injustice.

Sally, who stood beside Quatre and had not said anything during this whole encounter, nodded her head in sympathetic understanding and moved to sit down in one of the waiting chairs near Duo. Recognizing he was merely preaching to the choir, Duo stopped talking and simply frowned in disgruntlement. He provided Quatre with a small smile of appreciation though when the blonde offered him a cup of watery hospital coffee before taking a seat as well.

Left with the only option of playing a waiting game, the group had reached a mutual decision to operate in shifts at the hospital while impatiently waiting for news on their friends. Subsequently, Sally and Quatre and just arrived to relieve Hilde and Duo, who had been sitting in the waiting room for the last three hours and had not had the chance to sleep since the tumultuous events of the previous day. Well, in actuality, Hilde was curled up and snoozing in a small uncomfortable armchair, which is why Duo had attempted to try watching some television for company.

"Are Wufei and Trowa sleeping?" Duo asked as he blew on his lukewarm coffee, more out of habit than actual necessity.

"Wufei's sleeping upstairs in one of the empty rooms that the staff found for us. Trowa's getting updates about his teams from Une. Apparently, he was worried about some of his new rookies in the security squad considering the mess that things are in," Sally replied sipping at her tea. "He'll be resting as soon as he's done with the briefing."

"Good to hear. Wouldn't want Barton to be slacking because he didn't get his beauty rest," Duo said cracking a small smile. "What's the ETA for Wind and Fire?"

"They should be arriving in the next two hours according to their last transmission. However, your time's up, so you sadly won't be part of the welcoming party. You guys should head to real beds. You only have a four hour break to sleep and get food."

"Yeah yeah. I get ya. But you know Quatre, if you're coming to relieve someone from duty so they can get sleep, you generally don't want to give them a stimulate like coffee when you do so."

"Well lucky for you Duo, it's mostly water and I got you decafe," the blonde said smiling, obviously teasing the other man. The intention was not lost on Duo.

"Smartass," he mumbled as he stood up and stretched, stiff muscles protesting the sudden movement. He walked over to Hilde's chair and, with ease, positioned his arms under her knees and around her shoulders to lift the smaller girl up against his chest. As if practiced – which Sally and Quatre figured it probably was – Hilde moved her arms around Duo's neck and pressed herself against his form, all while seemingly still asleep.

"A nurse just told me that 6934 should be free, and has two beds in that room," Sally said, taking another sip of her tea. Duo mouthed a small 'thanks' and headed out of the room, mumbling something under his breath about how Hilde didn't pull her own weight and he should remember to never place her on surveillance on any future missions.

Preparing to find a way to preoccupy his time, Quatre examined the magazine spread out on the end table beside him, and debated between an Earth travel magazine and a weekly political journal.

"Want to play cards?"

"What'd you have in mind?" he asked turning towards the older woman, eager to have something else to do.

"You know how to play Ming's Mayhem?"

"Ohhh," Quatre said knowing. "Wufei taught me that little game during the downtime on a mission back when we were younger. I recall losing half my rations."

"Well I promise I won't make you go starving," Sally said with a coy smile. Never one to turn down a challenge, Quatre gave a devilish smile in kind.

"You're on Po."

~:~:~:~:~:~

She had been in the dark before, obviously, but nothing that compared with this. This was pitch black; a blackness that was all consuming and that seemed impossible. It was a blackness that her consciousness could not wrap around and that she could not rationalize or understand.

She could occasionally make out muffled sounds that seemed to echo in infinite chasms, and she imagined that that was what ghosts sounded like: unintelligible, phantom, but distinct. Yet at the same time, she felt as if she was trapped, surrounded by silence that masked even the very sound of her own breathing from her straining ears.

On some level, she was scared with the realization she couldn't feel anything and apparently couldn't move, which was only exacerbated by the fact that her senses had become unreliable. She contemplated the possibility that she was dreaming but the idea seemed unlikely, although she couldn't explain why. After a few silent and motionless minutes alone, she saw a light. Dim, yes, but light nonetheless that served to illuminate some small distant corner of whatever blackhole she was in.

She willed herself to move, forcing her heavy leaden limbs to push off from the ground. She felt like she was trying to jog in water, the movements requiring much more effort than normal and the progress painfully slow. However, she was moving, and that was a start. As she took another painful and laborious step, she hoped that the light was not merely another lonely infinite void.

She was so close to her highly anticipated goal when her feet faltered. Stumbling, she fell back to the dark surface beneath her and invisible weights pressed her down. Unable to move, her eyes felt heavy and an intense fatigue attacked her consciousness. Sleeping seemed a preferable choice in comparison to continuing her trek towards the dwindling light.

"Wake up…"

Her eyes opened minutely. What was that sound?

"Relena…Move…"

A voice. A voice that knew her name. A voice that sounded…

"NOW DAMNIT!"

familiar. It echoed around her and seemed to infiltrate the infinite darkness with life.

"I'm not going through this with you a second time. I can only take one 'tearful-goodbye-on-the-verge-of-death' scenario."

Deep, concerned, commanding, sincere, and oh so familiar. A voice that had filled her waking life and dreams for years now. A voice that brought her comfort and security in her darkest moments and could infuriate her when she was being stubborn. A voice attached to so many memories and emotions – but no name.

Who was calling for her in the lonely black abyss?

"I'm not going to repeat what I said until I see your eyes. I refuse to say it again."

The voice was sad and pleading and almost sounded hopeless. She knew deep in her heart that that voice, that person, had never been hopeless before.

What had they said to her?

"Please Relena…please…just open your eyes. I can't lose you again."

She was near the point of tears. Where was she going? The thought of the voice growing silent filled her with trepidation and overwhelming fear. In her deepest core she knew that she needed to hear it. She felt a deep connection to the voice that pulled at her, compelling her body to move and sit up. It continued to pull at her soul, her being, and her very heart as she managed to stand and take a shaky step towards the light.

She needed to see the face. She needed to see…

"Please…"

Him…

She took another step and the light became brighter.

"Just open you eyes…"

Him!

As the realization struck her, the lead that weighed her down before lifted away making it easier for her limbs to move.

"Come back to me…"

She knew that voice. She knew who it was. And she knew she had to get to him.

She began to sprint towards the light with an elated grin gracing her features. She had to tell him something, and make sure that he heard it.

"Relena…"

Heero!

* * *

A.N.: Thank you to the lovely reviewers who caught a few mistakes and format errors that document editor had changed on me without my knowledge. If you notice anymore, and you're so inclined to inform me, please let me know specifically where the error occurred. Otherwise, hope you enjoyed the latest installment.


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not possess any rights to the show Gundam Wing or its characters.

**Breathless: Chapter 7**

By Crystal Delphina

**Monday April 3, A.C. 200, 02:48~**

Awareness swept over her in a fashion that she had never experienced before (except for perhaps her birth – which was discounted due to the simple fact she didn't remember the event). Sounds came first; muffled ringing in her ears that eventually settled into a constant beeping somewhere that she thought was to the left of her, but her directional orientation seemed off. Initially she thought that she must have been standing, but she slowly realized she had no weight on her feet, and quickly surmised that she instead must be laying down. Various muscles cramped and stung as nerves in her limbs began rapidly informing her brain that they were still functioning, although many had fallen asleep. Her mouth was incredibly dry – worse than when she had spent a week with Quatre in his homeland on Earth – and although she attempted to swallow many times, the effort seemed in vain. She seemed to become aware of each and every single part of her body and her senses one at a time, as they seemingly came back to life.

Finally, her eyes began to flutter open as her fingers tentatively tried flexing in attempts to tactilely determine what she was laying on. These attempts to orient herself were aided by the fact that it seemed to be dark out; she was fairly certain that if there had been any substantial amount of light, her sensitive eyes would have been unable to handle the visual overload.

"Morning."

Carefully, she turned her head on the pillow, attempting to ignore the small dull pain of protest from the unused muscles of her neck. While the objects were slightly blurry, she decided she was definitely in a room. Finally her vision cleared and there, laying in what she assumed must have been an identical bed to her own, was Heero in amazingly sharp clarity. She began to sit up when dizziness overwhelmed her and forced her to remain immobile.

"Don't move too much," he ordered gently and she nodded her head in compliance. Following his directive was easy considering she'd already drawn the same conclusion herself.

"Wh—", she gave a small fitful cough as her throat readjusted to working properly. "Where am I?" she rasped.

"We're in a hospital. Do you remember the accident?" he asked slowly and evenly.

"The accident?" The incredulous look she gave him indicated that in all likelihood she thought he was a fool. Relena was fairly certain there was no accident, at least none that she was cognisant of. When he gave no indication of answering her question, she carefully reviewed what she could remember of the last twenty-four hours that she was conscious for: flying to a colony for delegate purposes, boring tours, boring dinner parties, boring meetings, annoying delegates, shuttle departure, an explosion far away, an explosion close up, one that was far too close to be good for her continued livelihood.

He had a feeling that she had reached her own conclusions when he heard the sharp gasp emit from her mouth, immediately followed by her rattling off a laundry list of questions.

"What time is it? How long have I been out? Where are the other delegates? Where are we exactly? Has someone told Milliardo? Am I okay? Are _**you**_ okay? I am alive…_right?_"

He suppressed a smile at the last question that was asked with some hesitation. He also resisted the urge to assure her that despite whatever the church had told her in her younger years, the afterlife was not comprised of beige walls, white laminate tile, and green uncomfortable adjustable hospital beds with monitors constantly beeping. Instead, he decided to go with what seemed like the better option in answering her first set of questions.

"Calm down. It's close to 0300. According to the date display on the terminals, it seems like you and I have both been in a coma for the last two days. I don't know about the other delegates. I don't know which hospital we're at exactly. I have no idea if someone has told Zechs, but I'm going to assume so; as far as I know, Une is not too keen on being run through with a sword at the hands of your brother for not informing him of any harm that may have come to you.

"I'm okay; I came to roughly fifteen minutes ago. More importantly, you're okay…" He kept his eyes trained on her light blue depths, but when the silence lasted a moment too long, he gave an uncomfortable small cough, effectively breaking the stare. Shifting his body so he was no longer turned towards her, he lay back on the pillows. He managed to contain his impulse to wince when his right shoulder hit the bed again, pain lacing its way up the shoulder blade up into the column of muscles in his neck. No need to cause her concern of course.

He tilted his head to look in her direction again.

"Regardless, you should go back to sleep and rest," he said in conclusion to his report. Relena opened her mouth to protest, but his eyes hardened with what looked like concern, and she acquiesced. Instead, she let out a sigh as she readjusted her head on the pillow.

"We actually made it…" she murmured in wonderment. "I was certain that we would die there."

"I told you that we'd be saved. You should really learn to have more faith in me Relena," he replied with what he could manage of a smirk and a chiding tone. She gave him a small smile before turning her head on the pillow so she could contemplate the arrangement of ceiling tiles and no longer be forced to meet his dark stare. They sat in silence only interrupted by the gentle mechanical whir of the machines and the beeping of the heart rate monitors.

"You know that I meant what I said."

"I know."

"Are you going to leave again?"

Her gaze directed elsewhere, she missed his eyes slightly widening in surprise as her question caught him off guard – a rarity. While he didn't blame her necessarily for asking – considering his less than admirable track record in that department – he still felt slighted. He had stuck around for two years now without any indication of jumping ship. Then again, it was very likely that she was under the impression that her confession was enough to drive him away again.

Building a reputation reliant upon the appearance of non-existent affect and avoiding any sort of emotional attachment to others had a proven tactical advantage in combat situations. However, it also had the pesky drawback of biting you in the ass when you continued to operate under that ideology with the people who actually mattered to you; when they cared about you in return, they were frankly (and understandably so) too scared shitless to express it. Heero and Relena's tumultuous years as teenagers during wartime had created a predictable and logical system of interactions: Relena expressing any sort of attachment equaled Heero distancing himself from her out of "duty". 'Duty', in this case, was also known as 'peacing the fuck out and running away' (without any explanation to his sudden suicidal tendencies mind you) to the nearest war torn country, volatile colony, godforsaken moon, or military leader who was out to kill him.

Like it or not, in their younger days they had set up a learned behavior response of Relena attempting to move an inch closer and Heero quickly taking fifty steps away towards a known land mine. So the young woman had learned from her mistakes and had tactfully decided to forsake any further attempts to get closer to the other man. Thus, they contently lived the last two years in each other's company in relative platonic peace on fairly emotionally neutral grounds.

In light of the recent affection laden events though, no matter how heartfelt and sincere, their shared history dictated that Relena's breech of their unspoken contract meant that Heero would vacate the scene.

He cringed at the twisted rationale that had naturally evolved to dominate their relationship and cursed himself for his selfish stupidity when he was a fifteen-year-old lethally effective mercenary but emotionally stunted screw up.

"No. I have no intention of leaving."

"That's good to know," she murmured, breathing a sigh of relief as her eyes began to slowly shut.

He cringed again but charged on.

"I said something before I lost consciousness," he mumbled, turning to inspect the beige-colored ceiling as well. Saying it once the first time around had already been bad enough. Having to go through the whole mess a second time just seemed like cruel and unusual punishment that bordered on a torture tactic that White Fang might have considered using. Torture or not, he couldn't help but noting that on the positive side, telling her a second time indicated that they were still alive and he was afforded another opportunity that shouldn't go to waste.

"I know. I heard you." At this admission, he nearly gave himself whiplash as he turned to look at her still form on the bed.

"What do you mean you _heard_ me? You were unconscious," he argued, with something similar to embarrassment creeping into his voice. Was it possible for Heero Yuy to be embarrassed? As far as he was aware, the answer was a firm no, but then again, stranger and more implausible things had happened (i.e. Treize Khushrenada having an illegitimate daughter that was subsequently brainwashed into desiring world domination).

"I don't know how, but I did. Right before I blacked out completely, I could hear your voice," she paused in her explanation, allowing her words to sink in. "Did you mean it? Or was it merely the heat of the moment? Considering we both thought we were about to die, it could simply be a function of ill-timing and a last ditch desperate effort to create meaning in your life. I understand if you were just –"

"I meant it Relena," he stated evenly, cutting off her insecurity fueled excuses. "Besides, I would never say something on my deathbed that I didn't mean," he added with a small verbal barb lacing his words, somewhat insulted by her insinuation. He was on the brink of death, yes, but he hadn't gone stark raving mad and started verbalizing any jibberish that popped into his head.

"I know that," she whispered as a single tear traced its way down the side of her face. "I just don't want you to leave again. I don't want empty promises and I don't want your sympathy. I don't want you to protect me out of a sense of duty. And I certainly don't want…" she choked on her words momentarily as a gentle sob caught in her throat. "I just don't want my heart broken again…" she finished in a small voice, her sorrowful words finally given voice after years of being silenced from fear and denial.

And there he was, by the side of her bed, leaning over her and inspecting the small collection of tears that had joined the first. He was thankful that before she had awakened he had taken the time to remove all the damn wires from himself and turned off the pesky machines monitoring his vitals, otherwise nurses and doctors would be charging the room in mere seconds to determine why he had suddenly flat lined. Timidly, he lifted his hand towards her face, hesitating as his fingers hovered above her cheek. With firm resolve, he pressed on and felt her soft moist skin beneath the hard pads of his fingertips as he made an attempt to wipe the tears away that he'd inadvertently caused.

Her hand reached up and grabbed his, and he stiffened, unsure of what to do. When she gently pressed down, he allowed her to guide his palm to her cheek so he cupped her face. Suddenly, bright blue eyes shined at him in the darkness and regarded him with serious contemplation, as she waited expectantly for him to say something. Like so many times before this moment, he was again awestruck at her strength and marveled at her ability to look so fierce with tears in her eyes.

"I can't promise you I'll always be here." He cleared his throat, realizing that may have been a poor way to start out, despite its truth. "I'm a soldier, even if I'm part of peace forces. But…I can promise that I'll make every effort I can to return." His thumb moved along her cheekbone in a soothing gesture, and she squeezed his hand.

"Now go to sleep. I'll still be here when you wake up. And the other's are going to want to know you're okay and know everything that happened. That alone will be a draining ordeal, much less the required official public reports and the media circus of press conferences."

She gave a single slow nod of her head, her eyes never straying from his dark blue eyes. He slowly, regretfully, pulled his hand away from her so he could return to his bed. When he moved under the covers, he could still feel the heat from her fingers burning into his wrist when her touch lingered as he pulled away.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

**08:01~**

Trowa examined his hand and then after a moment's consideration, threw down the queen of clubs he had been trying to hold onto. Hopefully his opponent wouldn't notice that it was a critical card that could sway the outcome of the game.

"After this debacle, I think we should start running background checks on all major political leaders every year; every two years at the very minimum. There's no good excuse for why Tallien was able to amass so much power so quickly and fly below the radars," Zechs growled as he carefully studied his cards with cold calculation. Trowa was in the midst of trying to teach the older man Ming's Mayhem after Wufei had introduced him to the game – and thoroughly beaten him – during one of their earlier shifts together. While Zechs was arguably a tactical genius, his talent didn't seem to carry over to cards. After further deliberation, the former OZ pilot put down a jack of diamonds.

Trowa gave an inaudible sigh of relief. "I disagree. The public would become uneasy, especially if Preventers made it so blatantly obvious that they didn't trust those in control." His hand deftly darted down to remove the cards from the center pile after showing his three and seven of hearts.

Scowling, Zechs threw whatever card onto the table that seemed most troublesome to his sense of aesthetics, thus the six of spades was offered up. "The people are already uneasy. They can't trust their damn leaders anymore now than when Romefeller was in power. It's not like Bandruk's any shining star of hope."

"True, but—"

"Are you two the Preventer detail on duty to receive updates on the Vice Foreign Minister and her guard?"

They both hastily stood up and dropped their cards onto the table, forgetting about the debate and their game. They looked towards the young nurse expectantly, but began to worry when she didn't say anything. It took them a second to realize that she was still waiting for a reply to her question, and Zechs nodded his head with vigor. "I'm her brother."

She looked down at her clipboard, and studied its contents. "Zechs Peacecraft?"

"Millardo Peacecraft actually," he corrected, but then hurried on. "But that's neither here nor there. Is she—Are they…" he trailed off, deciding a vague non-question was better than asking about either of the two available options. Asking whether they were alive or whether they were dead seemed too direct and finite either way and was potentially inviting disaster.

"They're awake," she said with a kind smile that only deepened when she saw the relief in both men's eyes. "Apparently they woke up briefly a few hours ago. You're welcome to go see them now. But keep the visit short."

The Lightning Baron nearly sprinted past the nurse in his eagerness to go confirm his sister's good health. Two days of sitting on pins and needles since his arrival on the colony had been one of the most excruciating 48-hour periods of his life. Trowa, on the other hand, pulled out his small communicator and touched the number on the screen that would secure a direct line to Une. Before the Preventers Commander could even issue a "hello," Trowa merely stated, "They're awake. Inform the others," before ending the call and heading down the hall after Zechs.

**08:03~**

The receiver literally fell from Une's hand, clattering onto her desk with such force that the plastic must have cracked. Une was stunned and speechless, and not even the whine of the disconnected line shook her from her daze.

"Commander? What is it? What's happened?"

The concerned voice managed to rouse her from her torpid state. Turning to address the inquisitor, a wide smile spread across her face.

"Major Lovato, Darlain and Yuy have just regained consciousness. Go start informing the necessary parties. The report on the colony ballistics can wait."

The usually reserved Major Lovato gave a hasty salute and quickly ran out of the Commander's office, fighting the urge to appear too eager in delivering the long awaited message.

Une sunk down into her chair and let out a long breath, allowing the weight from three days of anxious anticipation to finally release its hold on her body and mind. Finally the path was looking clearer, and she could relax. With a mixture of laughter and tears, Une's entire frame shook, and she tangled a hand into her long brown hair, her fingers rubbing her hairline and scalp. Finally, with exaltation winning over, she threw her head back and emitted a loud bark of laughter. "Oh thank the gods."

Then, looking over to the corner where a mirror was propped against the wall, Une examined her reflection and gave a lopsided smile at her very unkempt and unprofessional appearance. "I'm a mess."

She finally placed the phone receiver back on its cradle and stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in her jacket and slacks.

Opening the door to her office out onto the sixth floor command center, she could hear the shouts of joy echoing through the halls.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~

A nurse checked the IV bag one more time before finally deciding his charges were alright for the time being. He ventured to take another (what he hoped to be subtle) glance at the Vice Foreign Minister, who modestly lay in the supine position. She was preoccupied by the monitor in the corner that had been cycling through various news channels since she first alerted the staff to her recovery. Staring in rapt fascination at the images and captions streaming beneath the reporter's image, Relena Darlain failed to notice the young man's curious glance.

The rumors were all quite true; she was truly attractive and quite striking. The various stock photos of her and televised press conferences didn't do her justice.

The nurse shifted his innocuous gaze and regarded the other patient in the room who was also distracted, but not by the news reports. Instead, his dark eyes were trained on the Vice Foreign Minister's form and scrutinized every movement she made, down to the very act of her breathing.

Not one to be caught off guard, Heero gave a violent frown of annoyance when his eyes caught the young nurse giving him a goofy smile that was far too familiar considering he didn't even know his name.

"What?" Heero huffed, nearly growling in agitation at the nurse.

"Nothing sir. Sorry," the man said lessening his grin minutely. After giving one more cursory glance to the IV bag and the EKG, he shuffled out of the room. He turned to look back at the scary young man who just glared at him, managing to remain imposing even in a hospital gown. "You're a lucky guy," the nurse said with a smile before shutting the door behind him.

The Preventers Senior Officer frowned a bit more, unnerved by the random stranger's perceptiveness. He looked over at the young woman across the room and let the frown fade. He was indeed a lucky young man. Relena remained unfazed and unaware of the entire interaction, too engrossed in the live broadcasts outside their very hospital. Even in her zombie-like state, she was still alluring in her hospital gown and with her tousled hair.

Heero wasn't afforded the luxury to bask in the moment for long however. With a crash, the door to their hospital room flew open and hit the wall with such a force the room vibrated. Relena broke free of her hypnotic state just in time to see her brother take two long strides across the room, white hair flying behind him, grab Heero by the front of his gown and soundly smack him across the face.

Trowa sauntered in to stand in the doorway and could quickly surmise what happened. Everyone remained still in stunned silence while the noise from the monitor carried on.

"In other news, Preventers security protocols and intelligence forces are being called into question in light of…."


End file.
